Postprandial adiponectin and gelatinase response to a high-fat versus an isoenergetic low-fat meal in lean, healthy men

Objective: Evidence suggests that an acute systemic inflammatory response is invoked after consumption of a high-energy meal. Postprandial regulation of adiponectin, an adipose tissue-derived, anti-inflammatory hormone, and the gelatinases, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9, endopeptidases implicated in a diverse range of inflammatory processes, remain inconclusive. The aim of this study was to assess the postprandial effect of a high-energy (1212kcal) meal on plasma adiponectin, MMP-2 and MMP-9 activity, glucose, insulin, triacylglycerols, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and the differential effects on these parameters depending on whether the test meal was high fat (HF; 46g fat, 1210kcal) or isoenergetic and low fat (LF; 15g fat, 1214kcal energy). Methods: Test meals were consumed by 17 lean, healthy men on two separate occasions with blood samples collected by venipuncture at baseline (0h) and 1 and 3h after consumption of each test meal. Results: At baseline, no significant difference was seen in the parameters between the two groups, except for MMP-2, MMP-9, and total cholesterol. Over the 3-h postprandial period, no significant differential effect of the HF versus the LF test meal was observed on adiponectin, MMP-2, MMP-9, or on metabolic markers other than triacylglycerol, which increased significantly in response to the HF test meal (time×treatment, P=0.002). When analyzed independent of time, MMP-2 (treatment, P=0.006), MMP-9 (treatment, P=0.022), and glucose (treatment, P=0.026) were lower after consumption of the HF meal compared with the LF test meal. When analyzed independent of treatment, adiponectin increased over the 3-h postprandial period (time, P=0.031), but there was no change in MMP-2 or MMP-9 (time, P=0.503 and P=0.525, respectively). Over the 3-h postprandial period, insulin (time, P<0.001) and total cholesterol (time, P=0.002) increased, whereas glucose (time, P<0.001) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (time, P<0.001) decreased. Conclusion: No differential effects of a HF versus a LF isoenergetic meal were seen on postprandial adiponectin or the gelatinases. Adiponectin increased in response to a high-energy meal independent of treatment, and the gelatinases were lower in response to the HF versus the LF isoenergetic meal, independent of time point. Given the considerable amount of time that humans spend in the postprandial state, additional research is necessary to further understand inflammatory changes in this state.