Supplementation with Quercetin Markedly Increases Plasma Quercetin Concentration without Effect on Selected Risk Factors for Heart Disease in Healthy Subjects

Manuscript received 28 August 1997. Initial reviews completed 16 October 1997. Revision accepted 1 December 1997.

Department of Human Biology and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, N1G 2W1 and ^* National Institute of Nutrition, Rome, Italy, 00178

The purpose of this double-blind study was to investigate the influence of adding a quercetin-containing supplement to the diet on plasma quercetin status, serum/platelet fatty acid levels and risk factors for heart disease. Healthy men and women with cholesterol levels of 4.0-7.2 mmol/L, consumed four capsules daily of either a quercetin-containing supplement (1.0 g quercetin/d) or rice flour placebo for 28 d. Quercetin intakes were ~50-fold greater than the dietary intakes associated with lower coronary heart disease mortality on the basis of epidemiologic studies. Subjects consuming quercetin-containing capsules had plasma quercetin concentrations ~23-fold higher than those of subjects consuming the control capsules. Quercetin supplementation did not modify serum total, LDL or HDL cholesterol or triglyceride levels. There were also no alterations of other cardiovascular disease or thrombogenic risk factors, including platelet aggregation, platelet thromboxane B₂ production, blood pressure or resting heart rate. Furthermore, there was no effect on the levels of (n-6) or (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids in serum or platelet phospholipids. In conclusion, supplementation with quercetin-containing capsules markedly enhanced the plasma quercetin concentration but had no effect on other cardiovascular or thrombogenic risk factors.

The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 128 No. 3 March 1998, pp. 593-597
Copyright ©1998 by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences

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