Cheese Consumption and Human Microvascular Function

Summary

Increased dairy intake is associated with improved measures of blood vessel health. Dairy cheese, however, is often high in sodium. Dietary sodium can impair blood vessel function. The researchers examine if and how natural cheese may protect against impairments in blood vessel function caused by sodium. For this study, participants complete four 8-day controlled feeding periods in which they eat cheese (6 oz/day) or no cheese during a low-sodium or high-sodium base-diet. The participants complete baseline experiments while on their normal personal diet and then repeat experiments at the end of each controlled feeding period. In some of our experiments, the researchers use a technique called "microdialysis" (MD). With MD, the researchers perfuse some research drugs into the skin on the forearm through tiny tubing that mimics capillaries. These MD drugs mimic or block substances the body naturally makes to control the small blood vessels in the skin. The drugs remain in nickel-sized areas around the tubing and do not go into the rest of the body. The researchers also use a standard technique called "flow mediated dilation" (FMD) that uses blood pressure cuffs and ultrasound to look at the health of larger blood vessels in the body. FMD includes placing a small tablet of nitroglycerin under the tongue during part of the test.

Conditions

• Microvascular Dysfunction

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Low sodium no cheese

Diet contains 1,500 mg sodium per day Diet does not contain dairy cheese 8 days

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Low sodium cheese

Diet contains 1,500 mg sodium per day Diet contains 6 oz dairy cheese per day 8 days

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

High sodium no cheese

Diet contains 5,500 mg sodium per day Diet does not contain dairy cheese 8 days

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

High sodium cheese

Diet contains 5,500 mg sodium per day Diet contains 6 oz dairy cheese per day 8 days

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Dairy Council

  collaborator OTHER

• Lacy Alexander

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Lacy M Alexander, PhD · Penn State University

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

55 Years

Max Age

75 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-07-01

Primary Completion

2021-03-01

Completion

2021-03-01

Countries

• United States

Study Locations