Transgenic 6F tomatoes act on the small intestine to prevent systemic inflammation and dyslipidemia caused by Western diet and intestinally derived lysophosphatidic acid.

We recently reported that levels of unsaturated lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) in the small intestine significantly correlated with the extent of aortic atherosclerosis in LDL receptor-null (LDLR⁻/⁻) mice fed a Western diet (WD). Here we demonstrate that WD increases unsaturated (but not saturated) LPA levels in the small intestine of LDLR⁻/⁻ mice and causes changes in small intestine gene expression. Confirmation of microarray analysis by quantitative RT-PCR showed that adding transgenic tomatoes expressing the apoA-I mimetic peptide 6F (Tg6F) to WD prevented many WD-mediated small intestine changes in gene expression.