Several mechanisms have been proposed for the beneficial effect of nuts on health. However, Brazil and cashew nuts remain the least studied. We aim to evaluate the effect of these nuts within an energy-restricted diet on body weight, body composition, cardiometabolic markers and endothelial function in cardiometabolic risk women. Brazilian nuts study is a randomised controlled parallel 8-week dietary intervention trial. Forty women were randomly allocated to (1) control group: energy-restricted diet without nuts, n 19 or (2) Brazil and cashew nuts group (BN-Group): energy-restricted diet containing daily 45 g of nuts (15 g of Brazil nuts + 30 g of cashew nuts), n 21. At the beginning and final intervention, anthropometry, body composition and blood pressure were measured. Fasting blood sampling was obtained to evaluate lipid profile, glucose homeostasis and endothelial function markers. After 8-week, plasma Se concentration increased in BN-group (Δ = + 31·5 (sem 7·8) μg/l; P = 0·001). Brazil and cashew nuts intake reduced total body fat (–1·3 (sem 0·4) %) parallel to improvement of lean mass percentage in BN-group compared with the control. Besides, the soluble adhesion molecule VCAM-1 decreased (24·03 (sem 15·7) pg/ml v. −22·2 (sem 10·3) pg/ml; P = 0·019) after Brazil and cashew nuts intake compared with the control. However, lipid and glucose profile markers, apolipoproteins and blood pressure remained unchanged after the intervention. Thus, the addition of Brazil and cashew nuts to an energy-restricted diet can be a healthy strategy to improve body composition, Se status and endothelial inflammation in cardiometabolic risk women.

The cardio-ankle vascular index is a measure of arterial stiffness, whereas oxidative stress underlies arterial pathology. This study aimed to investigate the association between the cardio-ankle vascular index and antioxidant-related gene polymorphisms in young Russians. A total of 89 patients (mean age, 21.6 years) were examined by the cardio-ankle vascular index and for 15 gene polymorphisms related to antioxidant enzymes including FMO3 (flavin-containing monooxygenase 3), GPX1 (glutathione peroxidase 1), and GPX4 (glutathione peroxidase 4). A higher cardio-ankle vascular index level was detected in carriers with the KK-genotype of FMO3 polymorphism rs2266782 than in those without (mean levels: 6.2 versus 5.6, respectively, p<0.05). Similarly, a higher cardio-ankle vascular index level was seen in carriers with the CC-genotype of GPX4 polymorphism rs713041 than in those without (6.0 versus 5.5, respectively, p<0.05). We did not observe significant associations between the cardio-ankle vascular index levels and the other gene polymorphisms. Although carriers with the LL-genotype of GPX1 polymorphism rs1050450 showed a higher diastolic blood pressure level than those without, the polymorphism did not affect the cardio-ankle vascular index level. This study showed a significant association between rs2266782 and rs713041 polymorphisms and arterial stiffness, as measured by the cardio-ankle vascular index, in young Russians. The pathways utilised by antioxidant enzymes may be responsible for early arterial stiffening in the Russian population.