No abstract

The olive tree had been domesticated during the early Neolithic in the Near East, and more than 1000 different cultivars have been identified to date. However, examples of wild olive trees (Olea europaea oleaster) can still be found in the Mediterranean basin. Evidence of oleaster use for oil production can be found in historical and sacred texts, such as the Odyssey, the Holey Koran, and the Holey Bible. While the nutritional and healthful properties of olive oil are actively being explored, there are no data on the human actions of oleaster oil. Therefore, we investigated the effect of prolonged, i.e., 1 month, consumption of oleaster oil on the lipid profile of a 40 healthy Algerian subjects (aged 27.9 ± 3.85 years), as compared to nonconsumers from the same area. Plasma urea, creatinine, and uric acid concentrations and glycemia did not significantly differ, at the end of the study, between controls and oleaster-oil-supplemented subjects. Conversely, we recorded significant decreases of plasma triglyceride concentration (-24.8%; p < 0.05), total cholesterol (-12.13%; p < 0.05), and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) (-24.39%; p < 0.05) in oleaster-oil-treated subjects. Concomitantly, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations were significantly increased (17.94%; p < 0.05) by oleaster oil administration. In conclusion, we show that oil obtained from feral olive trees, i.e., oleasters, improves the plasma lipid profile of healthy volunteers.

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Marine organisms, including microalgae, are among major subjects of investigation for the research of new molecules with biological activity that may improve responses to metabolic treatment. Microalgae Nannochloropsis gaditana are rich sources of diverse bioactive compounds. In this context, the present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary microalgae Nannochloropsis gaditana in the modulation of biochemical parameters and oxidant/antioxidant markers in rats subjected to a high fat diet. Male rats were fed on control or high fat diet (hyperlipidic/hypercaloric diet), supplemented or not with Nannochloropsis gaditana (10%) for two months. At the end of the experiment, plasma and tissues biochemical parameters and oxidant/antioxidant markers were determined. Our results show that the high fat diet induced a significant increase in body weight, food intake, and adverse alterations in biochemical parameters such as an increase in plasma glucose, triglyceride, cholesterol, and oxidant markers. Nannochloropsis gaditana supplementation in high fat diet induced a reduction in weight gain, plasma, and tissue lipids and attenuates oxidative stress, thus, improving the metabolic status. In conclusion, Nannochloropsis gaditana by the properties of their bioactive compounds seem to have a hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic nature and improves the redox status of the subject, which could prevent and/or attenuate some metabolic disorders associated with obesity.