Does coffee consumption alter plasma lipoprotein(a) concentrations? A systematic review

ABSTRACT

Coffee consumption alters plasma lipid and cholesterol concentrations, however, its effects on lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) have received little study. The aim of this PRISMA compliant systematic review was to examine the role of coffee on serum Lp(a).

This study was prospectively registered (PROSPERO 2015:CRD42015032335). PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Cochrane Central were searched from inception until 9th January 2016 to detect trials and epidemiological studies investigating the impact of coffee on serum Lp(a) concentrations in humans.

We identified six relevant publications describing nine experimental trials of various designs. There were a total of 640 participants across all studies and experimental groups. In short-term controlled studies, consumption of coffee, or coffee diterpenes was associated with either a reduction in serum Lp(a) of ≤11 mg/dL (6 trials, 275 participants), or no effect (2 trials, 56 participants). Conversely, one cross-sectional study with 309 participants showed serum Lp(a) was elevated in chronic consumers of boiled coffee who had a median Lp(a) of 13.0 mg/dL (range 0–130) compared with consumers of filtered coffee who had median Lp(a) 7.9 mg/dL (range 0–144).

The effect of coffee on Lp(a) is complex and may follow a biphasic time-course. The type of coffee and the method of preparation appear to be important to determining the effect on Lp(a).

KEYWORDS:

• Cafestol
• coffee
• diterpenes
• kahweol
• lipoprotein(a)

Additional information

This systematic review has been prepared within Lipid and Blood Pressure Meta-analysis Collaboration (LBPMC) Group (www.lbpmcgroup.umed.pl). The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the following individuals who kindly provided quantitative information on Lp(a) or other additional details which was not reported in their papers. Dr Telma Faraldo Correa provided information on (Correa et al. 2013) and Dr Elisabeth Strandhagen provided information on (Strandhagen and Thelle, 2003).

Declaration of interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Conflict of interest disclosures

None.

Funding

This article was prepared without the aid of any specific funding.