Different effects of palmitic and stearic acid-enriched diets on serum lipids and lipoproteins and plasma cholesteryl ester transfer protein activity in healthy young women

The effects of palmitic and stearic acid-enriched diets on serum lipids, lipoproteins, apolipoproteins (apo) A-I and B, and plasma cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) activity were examined in 12 healthy young women. Subjects followed the two experimental diets for 4 weeks according to a randomized crossover design. Both experimental diet periods were preceded by consumption of a baseline diet for 2 weeks. The diets provided 37% of total energy intake (E%) as fat, and differed only with respect to fatty acid composition. There was a substitution of 5E% of palmitic acid or stearic acid in the experimental diets for 5E% of monounsaturated fatty acids in the baseline diet. After the palmitic acid diet, serum total and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and apo A-I concentrations were higher (8%, P = .015, 9%, P = .040, and 11%,P = .011, respectively) and mean serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentration tended to be higher (8%, P = .077) as compared with values after the stearic acid diet. Plasma CETP activity increased in the palmitic acid diet as compared with the stearic acid diet (12%, P = .006). In conclusion, palmitic acid and stearic acid-enriched diets had different effects on serum lipids and lipoproteins and also on plasma CETP activity in young healthy women.