Effect of Mediterranean diet on lipid peroxidation marker TBARS in obese patients with OSAHS under CPAP treatment: a randomised trial

The aim of our study was to examine the possible effect of the Mediterranean diet on thiobarbituric acid reacting substances (TBARS) in obese patients with obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS) who are under continuous positive airway pressure treatment. Nine hundred patients were evaluated during a 1-year period (November 2008-October 2009), and 21 obese patients who met the inclusion criteria, with moderate to severe OSAHS based on overnight attended polysomnography, were included in the study. After randomisation, 11 followed the Mediterranean diet and 10 a prudent diet for a 6-month period. TBARS were measured in serum. TBARS levels decreased notably in both groups (p < 0.05), but no difference was observed between them (p > 0.05). There were significant differences in other characteristics. The Mediterranean diet group showed a greater reduction in weight (-10.8 +/- 3.8), body mass index (-3.9 +/- 1.6), waist circumference (-9.9 +/- 3.0) and percentage of body fat (-4.7 +/- 2.3) compared with the other group (-6.9 +/- 3.1, -2.5 +/- 1.0, -5.3 +/- 2.6 and -2.2 +/- 1.5, respectively; p < 0.05). Our results showed that the Mediterranean diet did not reduce the TBARS more than the prudent diet.