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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States, and hypercholesterolemia is a major risk factor. Population studies, as well as animal and intervention studies, support the consumption of a variety of vegetables as a means to reduce CVD risk through modulation of hypercholesterolemia. Microgreens of a variety of vegetables and herbs have been reported to be more nutrient dense compared to their mature counterparts. However, little is known about the effectiveness of microgreens in affecting lipid and cholesterol levels. The present study used a rodent diet-induced obesity (DIO) model to address this question. C57BL/6NCr mice (n = 60, male, 5 weeks old) were randomly assigned to six feeding groups: (1) low-fat diet; (2) high-fat diet; (3) low-fat diet + 1.09% red cabbage microgreens; (4) low-fat diet + 1.66% mature red cabbage; (5) high-fat diet + 1.09% red cabbage microgreens; (6) high-fat diet + 1.66% mature red cabbage. The animals were on their respective diets for 8 weeks. We found microgreen supplementation attenuated high-fat diet induced weight gain. Moreover, supplementation with microgreens significantly lowered circulating LDL levels in animals fed the high-fat diet and reduced hepatic cholesterol ester, triacylglycerol levels, and expression of inflammatory cytokines in the liver. These data suggest that microgreens can modulate weight gain and cholesterol metabolism and may protect against CVD by preventing hypercholesterolemia.

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Tamoxifen inhibits estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer growth while CD36 potentiates cancer metastasis. The effects of CD36 on proliferation/migration of breast cancer cells and tamoxifen-inhibited ER-positive cell growth are unknown. In this study, we correlated the mortality of breast cancer patients to tumor CD36 expression levels. We also found CD36 was higher in ER-rich (MCF-7>T-47D~ZR-75-30) than ER-negative (MDA-MB-231) cells. CD36 siRNA decreased viability and migration of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells with more potent effects on MCF-7 cells. Inversely, high expressing CD36 enhanced cell growth/migration. Mechanistically, CD36 increased expression of genes responsible for cell proliferation, migration and anti-apoptosis. CD36 also activated ERα and ER-targeted genes for cell cycles, and phosphorylated ERK1/2 (p-ERK1/2). Tamoxifen inhibited CD36 and p-ERK1/2 in ERα-positive but not ERα-negative cells. Reciprocally, inhibition of MCF-7 cell growth by tamoxifen was attenuated by high expressing CD36. CD36, ERα and p-ERK1/2 expression was higher in tamoxifen-resistant MCF-7 (MCF-7/TAMR) cells than normal MCF-7 cells. However, CD36 siRNA restored the capacity of tamoxifen inhibiting MCF-7/TAMR cell growth. CD36 antibody inhibited cell growth and expression of ERα, p-ERK1/2 and CCND1. Therefore, our study unveils a pro-tumorigenic role of CD36 in breast cancer by enhancing proliferation/migration of breast cancer cells while attenuating tamoxifen-inhibited ER-positive cell growth.