Cheese Consumption and Human Microvascular Function
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2021-03-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Increased dairy intake is associated with improved measures of blood vessel health. Dairy
cheese, however, is often high in sodium. Dietary sodium can impair blood vessel function.
The researchers examine if and how natural cheese may protect against impairments in blood
vessel function caused by sodium. For this study, participants complete four 8-day controlled
feeding periods in which they eat cheese (6 oz/day) or no cheese during a low-sodium or
high-sodium base-diet. The participants complete baseline experiments while on their normal
personal diet and then repeat experiments at the end of each controlled feeding period. In
some of our experiments, the researchers use a technique called "microdialysis" (MD). With
MD, the researchers perfuse some research drugs into the skin on the forearm through tiny
tubing that mimics capillaries. These MD drugs mimic or block substances the body naturally
makes to control the small blood vessels in the skin. The drugs remain in nickel-sized areas
around the tubing and do not go into the rest of the body. The researchers also use a
standard technique called "flow mediated dilation" (FMD) that uses blood pressure cuffs and
ultrasound to look at the health of larger blood vessels in the body. FMD includes placing a
small tablet of nitroglycerin under the tongue during part of the test.