%0 Journal Article
%T Coffee bean extracts rich and poor in kahweol both give rise to elevation of liver enzymes in healthy volunteers
%A Mark V Boekschoten
%A Evert G Schouten
%A Martijn B Katan
%J Nutrition Journal
%D 2004
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1475-2891-3-7
%X The response of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALAT) and aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT) to Robusta coffee oil (62 mg/day cafestol, 1.6 mg/day kahweol) was measured in 18 healthy volunteers.After nine days one subject was taken off Robusta oil treatment due to an ALAT level of 3.6 times the upper limit of normal (ULN). Another two subjects stopped treatment due to other reasons. After 16 days another two subjects were taken off Robusta oil treatment. One of those subjects had levels of 5.8 ULN for ALAT and 2.0 ULN for ASAT; the other subject had an ALAT level of 12.4 ULN and an ASAT level of 4.7 ULN. It was then decided to terminate the study. The median response of subjects to Robusta oil after 16 days was 0.27 ULN (n = 15, 25th,75th percentile: 0.09;0.53) for ALAT and 0.06 ULN (25th,75th percentile -0.06;0.22) for ASAT.We conclude that the effect on liver enzyme levels of coffee oil containing hardly any kahweol is similar to that of coffee oil containing high amounts of kahweol. Therefore it is unlikely that kahweol is the component of coffee oil that is responsible for the effect. Furthermore, we conclude that otherwise unexplained elevation of liver enzyme levels observed in patients might be caused by a switch from consumption of filtered coffee to unfiltered coffee.Consumption of unfiltered coffee types raises serum cholesterol levels in humans [1-4]. Unfiltered coffee also causes elevated liver enzyme levels in serum. Cafestol and kahweol are responsible for the effect of unfiltered coffee on serum cholesterol. These diterpenes are present in the oil derived from coffee beans. The only difference between cafestol and kahweol is a double bond present between the C1¨CC2 atoms in kahweol.Two types of coffee beans are used for brewing coffee: Arabica and Robusta. Arabica beans contain both cafestol and kahweol, whereas Robusta beans contain half as much cafestol and hardly any kahweol [5]. Cafestol raises serum cholesterol more potently than kahweol does. A mi
%K coffee oil
%K cafestol
%K kahweol
%K liver enzymes
%K alanine aminotransferase
%K aspartate aminotransferase
%U http://www.nutritionj.com/content/3/1/7