Abstract
Functional food represents an important alternative management of atherosclerosis, its risk factors, and clinical complications. Atherosclerosis is characterized by microinflammation, formation of atheromatous lipoprotein-rich plaques, and protrombogenic status. Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas L., CC) contains polyphenols influencing all three components of atherosclerosis. Its high antioxidant potential, verified in experimental studies, exhibited a pronounced decrease of inflammatory markers. CC treatment demonstrated a favourable effect on lipid spectrum (comparable with statins), decrease of glycemia, and increase of insulin (comparable with glibenclamide). Polyphenols identified in CC exhibited both direct antiplatelet effects and reduction of platelet hyper-reactivity mediated via attenuation of oxidative stress. The first clinical trials confirmed a clinically relevant decrease of total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triacylglycerols, lipoproteins, amelioration of inflammatory activity, and insulin secretion improvement after the treatment with CC polyphenolic compounds. However, the limitation of published studies is the use of undefined cultivars of CC, their experimental nature, small scale, and missing longitudinal trials. Nevertheless, biochemical properties of CC, hitherto described, predispose its products for the adjuvant management of atherosclerosis.