Smaragdi Antonopoulou

Harokopio University of Athens | HUA · Department of Nutrition and Dietetics

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a potent lipid mediator, involved in thrombosis, inflammation, and atherosclerosis. The protective effect of wine and olive oil against atherosclerotic diseases is largely attributed to their phenolic compounds and mostly to resveratrol and tyrosol. Both compounds have been reported to inhibit PAF biosynthesis in...

Introduction Elevated lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] levels is an established risk factor mediating cardiovascular disease. Purpose The relationship between Lp(a) and the first fatal/non-fatal CVD incident over a 20-year period in males and females without CVD was assessed. Methods A longitudinal prospective study was conducted during 2002–2022. In 2002,...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential interplay between a carbohydrate diet and inflammation in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) development. ATTICA is a prospective observational study of 3042 adults free of cardiovascular disease (CVD) who were recruited in 2002 and followed for 20 years. Baseline data on carbohydrate...

Spirulina is a supplement with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that may enhance performance and recovery after intense exercise. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of Spirulina Nigrita® on physical performance, and recovery markers after intense eccentric exercise in healthy moderately physically active volunteers. In a...

Objective The effect of the daily consumption of a low-fat yogurt (150 g) enriched with Platelet-Activating Factor receptor (PAF-R) antagonists, or the plain one, on gut microbiota and faecal metabolites was investigated in healthy overweight subjects. Methods A randomized, three-arm, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study was perf...

Introduction Phase angle (PA) is derived from bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). It reflects cell membrane function and decreases in disease. It is affected by inflammation, oxidative stress, and diet. Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a potent inflammatory lipid mediator. Its levels, along with the activity of its metabolic enzymes, includi...

Background: The Food Compass Score (FCS) is a novel nutrient profiling system, which evaluates food and diet quality. The present study aimed to prospectively assess the relationship of FCS with short-term (10 years) and long-term (20 years) cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and to explore whether this relationship is modified by long-term ad...

Background: Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element that is involved in several pathophysiological functions. The relationship of Se with cardiovascular disease remains inconclusive, especially regarding the role of different selenospecies. Objective: The present study assessed the levels of Se distribution in plasma selenoproteins namely gl...

Background/Objectives Several nutrient profiling systems have been developed to assist in food choices and policy. Food Compass Score (FCS) is a novel holistic food score assessing 54 parameters. The aim was to assess the relation of FCS with inflammatory and lipid markers in cardiovascular disease-free volunteers. Subjects/Methods Information fro...

Lipid mediators are a class of signaling molecules that play important roles in various physiological processes, including inflammation, blood pressure regulation, and energy metabolism. Exercise has been shown to affect the production and metabolism of several types of lipid mediators, including prostaglandins, leukotrienes, sphingolipids, platele...

Atherosclerosis is a progressive vascular multifactorial process. The mechanisms underlining the initiating event of atheromatous plaque formation are inflammation and oxidation. Among the modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, diet and especially the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet), has been widely recognized as one of the healthiest di...

Previous publications have reported a potent effect of COVID‐19 on platelet function and that the Spike protein enhances washed human platelet aggregation induced by various agonists. This study aims to evaluate whether mRNA vaccination for COVID‐19 affects human platelet‐rich plasma (hPRP) aggregation response, whether a recombinant Spike protein...

A fish-rich diet has a beneficial effect on cardiovascular health. The platelet activating factor (PAF) is involved in the development of atherosclerosis, and in vitro results support the regulating action of bioactive nutrients on PAF metabolism. The purpose of this study is to examine whether the consumption of farmed fish fed with an olive-pomac...

Background and aims Several studies have reported the positive cardio-metabolic effects of yogurt consumption. The addition of olive oil’s bioactive extracts into yogurt can result to a functional food with pleiotropic properties against cardiovascular diseases. A polar lipid extract of olive pomace (OOPLE) that contains platelet activating factor...

Many studies conclude that wine consumption is related to lower risk for cardiovascular diseases partially through the amelioration of inflammatory biomarkers. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of wine consumption on the inflammatory response and to compare these effects with the consumption of similar amount of alcohol withou...

Background Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a lipid inflammatory mediator implicated in liver disease. Its main biosynthetic enzymes are cytidine diphosphate (CDP)-choline:1-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol-cholinephosphotransferase (PAF-CPT) and acetyl-coenzyme A: lyso-PAF-acetyltransferases (Lyso-PAF-AT), while PAF acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) and lipop...

Platelet-activating factor (PAF), a proinflammatory lipid mediator, plays a crucial role in the formation of the atherosclerotic plaque. Therefore, the inhibition of endothelium inflammation by nutraceuticals, such as PAF inhibitors, is a promising alternative for preventing cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the...

The new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an emerging situation with high rates of morbidity and mortality, in the pathophysiology of which inflammation and thrombosis are implicated. The disease is directly connected to the nutritional status of patients and a well-balanced diet is recommended by official sources. Recently, the role...

Fish consumption beneficially affects coagulation markers. Few dietary intervention studies have investigated differently fed farmed fish against these cardio-metabolic risk factors in humans. This double-blind randomized crossover trial evaluated differently fed farmed gilthead sea bream consumption against platelet aggregation and circulating hae...

Subclinical, low-grade, inflammation is one of the main pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the majority of chronic and non-communicable diseases. Several methodological approaches have been applied for the assessment of the anti-inflammatory properties of nutrition, however, their impact in human body remains uncertain, because of the fact th...

The new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an emerging situation with high rates of morbidity and mortality, in the pathophysiology of which inflammation and thrombosis are implicated. The disease is directly connected to the nutritional status of patients and a well-balanced diet is recommended by official sources. Recently, the role...

Introduction Platelet-activating-factor is an inflammatory lipid mediator. Key enzymes of its biosynthesis are CDP-choline:1-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol-cholinephosphotransferase (PAF-CPT) and acetyl-CoA:lyso-PAF-acetyltransferases (Lyso-PAF-AT) while PAF-AH/Lp-PLA2 degrade PAF. The interplay between PAF and fatty acids metabolism was explored. Mat...

Background and aims We assessed the association of Mediterranean diet with NAFLD and their interaction in predicting ten-year diabetes onset and first fatal/non-fatal cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence. Methods The ATTICA prospective observational study in Athens, Greece included 1,514 men and 1,528 women (>18 years old) free-of-CVD at baselin...

Recent articles report elevated markers of coagulation, endothelial injury, and microthromboses in lungs from deceased COVID-19 patients. However, there has been no discussion of what may induce intravascular coagulation. Platelets are critical in the formation of thrombi and their most potent trigger is platelet activating factor (PAF), first char...

Recent papers report elevated markers of coagulation, endothelial injury and microthromboses in lungs from deceased CoVid-19 patients. Platelets are critical in the formation of thrombi and their most potent trigger is platelet activating factor (PAF), the structure of which was elucidated by Demopoulos and colleagues, who also described its semisy...

Although, three decades have pasted from the introduction of “French Paradox”, is still an issue for debate. Epidemiology supports the J-shaped relationship between wine consumption and vascular events as well as cardiovascular mortality with a maximum protection at 21g of alcohol consumption in the form of wine per day. Nevertheless, the aforement...

Platelet Activating Factor (PAF) is a pro-inflammatory mediator of atherogenesis. Food enriched with PAF inhibitors may have potential cardioprotective properties. In this attempt our group along with a well-known Greek dairy company incorporated bioactive ingredients (BAL) from olive-oil by-products, rich in PAF receptor specific inhibitors, into...

Introduction Cumulative findings have recently highlighted the role of gut microbiota as a novel environmental factor in the fight against obesity and related comorbidities. We aimed to investigate (1) the gut microbiome characteristics of a Greek adult population in terms of adiposity prevalence and (2) to further elucidate the potential effect of...

Anti-inflammatory properties of olive oil are partly attributed to the inhibition of the Platelet-Activating Factor (PAF), a potent inflammatory mediator that is implicated in the initiation and prolongation of atherosclerosis. PAF inhibitors also exist in an extract from olive pomace that inhibits development and regression of atherosclerotic plaq...

Previous reports support that wine contains a mixture of micro-constituents in a proper quality and quantity that possess cardio-protective effect partly through Platelet-Activating Factor (PAF) inhibition. Grape pomace (GP) is a source of wine-like micro-constituents that may be a suitable alternative in food fortification. Limited data exist conc...

The postprandial state is characterized by a net input of energy substrates and micronutrients and regulated in a complex neurohormonal milieu. Postprandial dysmetabolism (PD) can trigger, in a transient but daily fashion, proinflammatory, procoagulant mechanisms, and endothelial dysfunction. Since postprandial dysmetabolism is an independent risk...

Platelets aggregation plays a crucial role in atherothrombosis. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the anti-platelet activity of winery by-products extracts, to find the most potent one and to be further analyzed in order to be used for food fortification. For this purpose, grape pomace from four red varieties was extracted with...

We aimed to evaluate colonisation patterns of Akkermansia muciniphila in a Greek adult population and to investigate model-adjusted associations of A. muciniphila with host adiposity and cardiometabolic markers. Participants (n=125) underwent anthropometric, dietary, physical activity and lifestyle evaluation. Blood sampling for determination of bl...

Lipoprotein‐associated phospholipase A2 (Lp‐PLA2) is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Lp‐PLA2 activity is positively associated with male sex, Caucasian race, the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and low‐density lipoprotein (LDL)‐cholesterol, but it is negatively associated with high...

The primary aim was to investigate the effects of nut and seed consumption on markers of glucose metabolism in adults with prediabetes. Studies with a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design, comparing the effects of a diet containing nuts or seeds against a diet without nuts or seeds in adults with prediabetes, were considered eligible. Primary o...

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a potent mediator of inflammation that plays a crucial role in atherosclerosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a dietary supplement containing mainly plant extracts on PAF actions and metabolism in healthy volunteers. A double-blind, placebo-controlled, 8 weeks’ duration study was perform...

Platelet Activating Factor (PAF) is a pro-inflammatory mediator of atherogenesis. Food enriched with PAF inhibitors may have potential cardioprotective properties. For this purpose, we created a yogurt enriched with PAF inhibitors derived from byproducts of olive oil industry, which was consumed by volunteers in order to investigate whether its con...

Background: Excessive oxidative stress may impair bio-molecules and cellular function. Multi antioxidant supplementation is thought to be more effective than a single antioxidant probably through the synergistic or complementary action of natural substances that could enhance the prospective effect. Methods: In order to estimate the effect of a...

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a glycerylether lipid and one of the most potent endogenous mediators of inflammation. Through its binding to a well-characterized receptor it initiates a plethora of cellular pro-inflammatory actions participating by this way to the pathology of most chronic diseases, including cardiovascular and renal diseases,...

Background The influence of biomarkers in human lifespan has been investigated but with no clear results yet. Materials and methods Lipids, Uric Acid (UA), Adiponectin (ADIPOQ), Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF-1), cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) proteins, as well as CETP, ADIPOQ, insulin-like growt...

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of a 6-week, low-dose bovine colostrum (BC) supplementation on exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) and performance decline in soccer players following the Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test (LIST) during a competitive season period. Methods: In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-...

The purpose of this review is to collect and compare fish intervention studies. Prospective studies have outlined the beneficial effect of frequent fish consumption on cardiovascular incidents that is attributed to n-3 fatty acids incorporated in fish, mainly eicosapentaenoic (EPA), and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids. This outcome triggered clinical t...

The introduction of the term “French Paradox” motivated an extensive and in-depth research into health benefits of moderate wine consumption. The superiority of wine is thought to be attributed to its micro-constituents and consequent effort was made to isolate and identify these bioactive compounds as well as to elucidate the mechanisms of their a...

Background and aims: The metabolic syndrome (MetS) refers to a cluster of clinically relevant factors that increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality. Circulating levels of several amino acids and metabolites related to one-carbon metabolism have been associated with cardiometabolic risk factors and MetS. We aimed to ide...

Purpose: Platelet activating factor (PAF) is a potent inflammatory and thrombotic mediator that participates in the initiation and prolongation of atherosclerosis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the potential effect of wine consumption on platelet aggregation against PAF. Methods: The study had cross-over design. Ten healthy men pa...

This study aimed to explore the potential associations of adherence to the Mediterranean diet with gut microbiota characteristics and gastrointestinal symptomatology in an adult population. Other long-term dietary habits (e.g. consumption of snacks and junk food or stimulant intake) were also evaluated in terms of the gut microbiota profile. Partic...

Purpose Altered platelet aggregability has been implicated in the pathogenesis of glaucoma. This study aims to investigate the anti-platelet potential of intraocular pressure lowering drops, with the possibility of establishing it as an additional mechanism of anti-glaucomatous action. Materials and methods The anti-aggregating effects of a series...

Platelet Activating factor (PAF) is a potent inflammatory mediator that is involved in the initiation and the prolongation of atherosclerosis. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of wine consumption on the activity of PAF metabolic enzymes and on IL-6 levels as a cytokine inflammatory marker. Healthy men participated in 4 daily t...

Antiretroviral therapy (ΑRT) has successfully decreased AIDS morbidity and mortality and increased the lifespan of HIV patients to several decades. However, numerous factors contribute with unknown mechanisms to chronic immune activation and inflammation leading to severe “non-AIDS morbidities’’. Platelet Activating Factor (PAF) is a potent lipid i...

Background Given the increasing rate of overweight and the burden of metabolic syndrome (MetS) on cardiovascular disease development, better understanding of the syndrome is of great importance. Therefore, the objectives were to examine whether interleukin-6 (IL-6) and adiponectin are associated with MetS, and whether this association is mediated b...

Deregulation of postprandial metabolism coupled with high spikes of glucose, lipids, and thrombotic factors is considered as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. The Mediterranean diet (MD) has been connected to reduced mortality and cardiovascular disease. Among the potential mechanisms that may explain the health benefits of MD...

With the advent of highly effective antiretroviral therapy, cardiovascular disease has become an important cause of morbidity and mortality among people with treated HIV-1, but the pathogenesis is unclear. Platelet-activating factor is a potent lipid mediator of inflammation that has immunomodulatory effects and a pivotal role in the pathogenesis o...

Background: The traditional view on the relationship between lipid biomarkers and CVD risk has changed during the last decade. However, it is not clear whether novel lipid biomarkers are able to confer a better predictability of CVD risk, compared to traditional ones.Under this perspective, the aim of the present work was to evaluate the predictiv...

Interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) induced Platelet Activating Factor (PAF) synthesis in U-937 cells through stimulation of acetyl-CoA:lysoPAF-acetyltransferase (lyso PAF-AT) at 3 hours and DTT-independent-CDP-choline-1-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol cholinophosphotransferase (PAF-CPT) at 0.5 hours.The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Tyrosol...

Cave Cyanobacteria - thriving in an ‘extreme’ environment with interesting species biodiversity - are supposed to be a potential source of bioactive compounds. Lipid extracts from pure cultures of two recently established Cyanobacteria from Greek caves, Toxopsis calypsus and Phormidium melanochroun, were used for antibacterial screening against hum...

Consumption of phenolic compounds is associated with beneficial effects in humans even though many of them are poorly absorbed. The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro antioxidant activity of tyrosol (T), resveratrol (R) and their acetylated derivatives (AcD), as increased lipophilicity has been reported to improve absorption. The che...

A systematic study of the literature on the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease and diabetes was performed including studies with hard clinical end-points. With regard to cardiovascular disease, ten studies were identified, from which the majority focus on fish oil administration rather than fish intake and are based mostly on men. Early...

A number of studies support the anti-atherogenic effect of wine compounds. The scope of this study was to examine the effect of a red (Cabernet Sauvignon–CS) and a white (Robola–R) wine, as well as resveratrol and quercetin, on the platelet activating factor (PAF) biosynthetic enzymes, acetyl-CoA:lyso-PAF acetyltransferase (lyso-PAF-AT) and DTT-ins...

The epidemiology of selenium (Se) is mainly based on the determination of total serum selenium levels (TSe) which by many aspects is an inadequate marker of Se status. In this study we applied a recently developed LC-ICP-MS method, for the determination of the selenium content of the three main serum selenium-containing proteins, in a subcohort of...

Background Persistent immune activation and inflammation are lying behind HIV-infection even in the setting of ART mediated viral suppression. The purpose of this study is to define the in vivo effect of two first-line ART regimens on certain inflammatory mediators in male HIV patients. Methods Male, naive, HIV-infected volunteers were assigned ei...

Platelet-activating factor (PAF), a potent inflammatory mediator, is implicated in atherosclerosis. Its key biosynthetic enzymes are lyso-PAF acetyltransferases (lyso-PAF-AT), responsible for PAF synthesis through the remodeling route and a specific CDP-choline:1-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol cholinephosphotransferase (PAF-CPT), responsible for its de...

This study aimed at evaluating the changes in platelet-activating factor (PAF) and its metabolic enzymes over a 6-week follow-up period in patients with newly diagnosed heart failure ([HF] n = 12) compared with age-, sex-, and BMI-matched apparently healthy volunteers (n = 10). The PAF, its key biosynthetic enzymes (lyso-PAF acetyltransferase [lyso...

Interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) is a potent agonist of platelet-activating factor (PAF) synthesis. The monocyte-derived PAF may amplify the inflammatory and thrombotic processes. The IL-1β-induced enzymatic alterations leading to increased PAF synthesis are ill-defined. In the present study the last enzymatic activities of the remodeling (acetyl-CoA:lyso...

Heart failure (HF) is a complex syndrome with cardiac, renal, neurohormonal and sympathetic nervous system's manifestations, the pathogenesis of which among others is connected to inflammation. PAF has local and systemic effects pertaining to HF progression since it causes a negative inotropic effect, it induces arrhythmias, it induces apoptosis an...

Objective: The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of fortified milk combined with a lifestyle and counselling programme on several CVD risk factors after a 3-month dietary intervention. Design: Hypercholesterolaemic adults were randomized to a group supplemented with low-fat milk that was enriched with phytosterols, α-linolenic and linol...

Minerals play a key role in the regulation of metabolic and physiological pathways. Adequate intake is required to maintain homeostasis, cell protection, functionality, and health, while deficiencies are associated with specific illnesses. Among the minerals, calcium, copper, iron, selenium, and zinc are considered especially important because of t...

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-infected patients are at increased risk for cardiovascular diseases partly due to chronic inflammation. Some antiretroviral drugs and Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) regimens seem to be related and amplify this increased risk, especially the ones containing abacavir. Platelet-Activating-Factor (PAF)...