Caucasian subjects with a BMI of at least 27 kg/m2 were recruited between the end of March and the end of August of 2007 via posters in the university and hospital buildings, and via advertisements in local newspapers. Subjects came to the university for a screening visit. On this visit, fasting blood was sampled for analyses of serum lipids and lipoproteins. In addition,

height and body weight were determined. Furthermore, subjects had to complete a medical and general questionnaire. Exclusion criteria were BMI below 27 kg/m2, impairment of kidney (creatinine > 150 mmol/L) and liver function (ALAT, ASAT, ALP, GGT or total bilirubine > 2 times upper limit of normal), serum total cholesterol above 8 mmol/L, serum triglycerides above 4 mmol/L, taking medication that could influence the study outcome or could interfere with fenofibrate treatment, use of fish oil click here supplements, consumption of plant sterol or stanol-enriched food products, having donated blood within 1 month prior to the start of the study, having a diagnosis of any long-term medical condition (e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, epilepsy) or experiencing strong symptoms of allergy. Subjects received oral and written information about the nature and risk of the experimental procedures before their written informed consent before the start of the

study. The study was approved by the Medical Ethical Committee of Maastricht University. After the screening of 34 subjects, 26 subjects met Natural Product Library ic50 all our inclusion criteria and started the study. After inclusion, 6 subjects dropped out (1 man underwent surgery for an aneurysm, 1 woman had complained about

vapors during the placebo period, 1 man and 1 woman Bumetanide did not regularly attend appointments and were excluded, 1 man had a work-related reason, and 1 man had personal reasons). Thus, ten men and ten women completed the trial. Baseline characteristics are presented in Table 1. The study had a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design. Each subject enrolled in random order in a fish oil, a fenofibrate and a placebo period for 6 weeks with a wash-out period of at least 2 weeks between the intervention periods. During the fish oil intervention, subjects had to consume daily 8 fish oil capsules (Marinol C-38™, Lipid Nutrition, Wormerveer, the Netherlands), providing approximately 3.7 g/d n-3 LCPUFA (1.7 g/d EPA and 1.2 g/d DHA,) and 2 capsules placebo-matching fenofibrate (200 mg/d cellulose). During the fenofibrate period, subjects consumed 2 capsules providing 200 mg/d micronized fenofibrate (Lipanthyl®, Fournier Laboratories, Dijon, France) and 8 placebo-matching fish oil capsules (containing 80% High Oleic Sunflower Oil (HOSO)). During the placebo period, subjects received 8 HOSO capsules and 2 cellulose capsules. Subjects had to ingest half of the capsules before breakfast and the other half before dinner with a glass of water.