Effect of Consumption of Extravirgin Olive Oil on the Lipid Profile and on the Glycemia of Children with Cystic Fibrosis Seen at a Specialized Center in Belém-PA/ Brazil

Introduction: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease that affects the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulatory protein (CFTR), which functions as a chlorine channel regulating the balance between ions and water across the epithelium. Nutrition has shown an important role in this problem due to the need for a differentiated dietary prescription through a hypercaloric and hyperlipidic diet associated with anthropometric monitoring, and as a food strategy extra virgin olive oil can bring several benefits due to its rich composition in acids. monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and their bioactive compounds considered nutraceuticals, capable of modulating gene expression, interfering with the production of proteins and metabolites; It has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial effects. Method: A clinical trial was carried out with children aged 2 to 11 years attended at the João de Barros Barreto University Hospital, at this age there were 20 children, 2 could not be contacted and 3 refused to participate, so the research had 15 individuals, the exposure group (n=8) received dietary monitoring and extra virgin olive oil for three months and the control group (n=7) the standard nutritional guidance for the disease. The variables were: lipid profile (total cholesterol, HDL, LDL and triglycerides), glycemic status (fasting glucose). Results: There was a reduction in the rates of fasting glucose (p=0.0355) and triglycerides (p=0.0157) with a significant difference when comparing the control and intervention groups. Discussion: no other study was found using the ingestion of pure extra virgin olive oil in people with cystic fibrosis, only studies with a mixture of olive oil and soy or docosahexaenoic acid, however, regarding the healthy population and other diseases, the tests that were significant fasting glucose and triglycerides were found several studies that demonstrate the benefit of olive oil in reducing these rates. Conclusion: Supplementation with extra virgin olive oil proved to be effective, however several factors can influence the health of these people such as lifestyle habits, general health status and individual genetic variants, so studies with longer intake time and with a greater number of participants, preferably multicenter, should be evaluated, but extra virgin olive oil is shown as another tool to aggregate the various measures to improve the quality of life of this population.