Paraoxonase activity in Greek migrants and Anglo-Celtic persons in the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study: relationship to dietary markers.

Background: Greek migrants to Australia have low all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. This may be partly due to maintenance of a traditional Mediterranean diet and its interaction with CVD risk factors. The enzyme paraoxonase-1 (PON1) is thought to contribute to the anti-atherogenic properties of high density lipoproteins (HDL) by metabolizing lipid peroxides.