Protective Effects of Dietary Polyphenols on Arterial Stiffness

Cardiovascular diseases are the major cause of mortality, with 17.9 million deaths/yearworldwide and 3.9 million deaths/year in Europe, representing a cost to the EU economy of €210billion/year [1,2]. Arterial stiffness has been shown to increase cardiovascular morbidity andmortality [3,4]. It is a complex phenomenon characterized by decreased vascular distensibility [5].This degenerative process is influenced by ageing and several risk factors but is mainly associatedwith changes in the extracellular components of elastic arteries [5,6]. Several factors, includingvascular function, oxidative stress, inflammation, glycation and autophagy contribute to thepathophysiology of arterial stiffness. Considering that the structural degeneration of theextracellular matrix of the vascular wall is practically irreversible with current therapies, it isextremely important to evaluate the impact of preventive interventions, for example reducing theimpact of aging on increasing stiffness [5]. Most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented byaddressing behavioral risk factors, of which dietary factors make the largest contribution [2].Polyphenols are a widespread class of plant secondary metabolites that are found in several foodsand possess a diverse range of biological activities. Dietary polyphenols display pleiotropic effects,interacting with most mechanisms involved in arterial stiffness etiology. Therefore, they couldconstitute an interesting option to target vascular stiffening. In vivo activity of polyphenols orpolyphenol containing foods is known [7]. For several polyphenols or polyphenol containing foods,including cocoa, grapes, berries and olive, intervention studies point to a beneficial effect onvascular stiffness [8–12]. With regard to olive polyphenols specifically, our previous interventionstudy has shown blood pressure lowering effects [12–15]. In order to further elucidate mechanismsof action, we recently focused on specific studies investigating the potency of olive polyphenols asautophagy-inducing compounds, and the contribution of this mechanism to their atheroprotectiveeffects.