The role of palmitoleic acid (POA) in hypertension or blood pressure remains uncertain. We aim to investigate the epidemiological association between circulating POA and primary hypertension in humans, and subsequently evaluate the effects of exogenous POA on blood pressure and aortic remodeling in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs).
We conducted a case-control study of 349 hypertensive and 1396 normotensive children and adolescents, and found hypertensive cases showed significant lower erythrocyte phospholipid POA than normotensive controls (P < 0.001). In conditional logistic regression model, participants in the top quartile of POA had a lower prevalence of primary hypertension than those in the bottom (Multivariate-adjusted OR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.25-0.89). In animal study, 24 SHRs were randomly assigned to n-3 PUFAs (500 mg/kg), POA (500 mg/kg), or vehicle (olive oil) for 8 weeks. At the end of intervention, as compared to SHRs treated with vehicle, SHRs treated with POA showed significantly decreased systolic blood pressure (SBP), improved aortic remodeling, and also decreased aortic expressions of NF-κB and its downstream proinflammatory cytokines.
Circulating POA was inversely associated with risk of primary hypertension, and exogenous POA supplementation could decrease SBP and improve aortic remodeling by inhibiting NF-κB-mediated inflammation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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