Abstract：
Cardiovascular diseases, still the leading cause of mortality in the world, are closely related to vascular function. Older subjects are more susceptible to endothelial dysfunction and therefore it is important to define possible preventive or support strategies, such as consumption of foods with health-promoting effects. This systematic review aims to summarize the currently available evidence on acute or chronic trials testing the effect of selected plant-based foods on vascular function parameters in older subjects, and consider plausible mechanisms that may support the main findings. A total of 15 trials were included and analyzed, testing the effects of beetroot, plum, blueberry, and vegetable oils. We found some interesting results regarding markers of vascular reactivity, in particular for beetroot, while no effects were found for markers of arterial stiffness. The amelioration of vascular function seems to be more related to the restoration of a condition of nitric oxide impairment, exacerbated by diseases or hypoxic condition, rather than the enhancement of a physiological situation, as indicated by the limited effects on healthy older subjects or in control groups with young subjects. However, the overall set of selected studies is, in any case, rather limited and heterogeneous in terms of characteristics of the studies, indicating the need for additional high-quality intervention trials to better clarify the role of vegetable foods in restoring and/or improving vascular function in order to better elucidate the mechanisms through which these foods may exert their vascular health benefits in older subjects.
摘要：
心血管疾病,仍然是世界上死亡的主要原因，与血管功能密切相关。年龄较大的受试者更容易发生内皮功能障碍，因此定义可能的预防或支持策略非常重要。例如食用具有健康促进作用的食物。本系统综述旨在总结目前在急性或慢性试验中可用的证据，以测试选定的植物性食物对老年受试者血管功能参数的影响。并考虑可能支持主要发现的合理机制。共纳入15项试验并进行分析,测试甜菜根的效果，李子,蓝莓,和植物油。我们发现了一些关于血管反应性标志物的有趣结果，特别是对于甜菜根，而对动脉僵硬度标志物没有发现影响。血管功能的改善似乎与一氧化氮受损状况的恢复更相关，因疾病或缺氧状况而加剧，而不是增强生理状况，对健康的老年受试者或年轻受试者的对照组的影响有限。然而,整个选定的研究是，无论如何,在研究的特点方面相当有限和不同，这表明需要额外的高质量干预试验,以更好地阐明蔬菜食品在恢复和/或改善血管功能中的作用,从而更好地阐明这些食品在老年受试者中发挥血管健康益处的机制.
