Abstract
Dietary fats can play a role in life-long health outcomes. The role of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in health and disease has been a keen focus of researchers for over 50 years. Recently the focus of this research has turned to the beneficial role of the omega-3 (n-3) PUFA on health outcomes including heart disease and the prevention of preterm birth. From the standpoint of clinical practice, there has been a call for reliable screening tests that can predict risk. Two tests, both involving the measurement of n-3 PUFA in blood or its fractions, have become prominent, namely, the ‘omega-3 index’ as a predictor of cardiovascular disease risk and the ‘total n-3’ pregnancy test as a predictor of risk of premature birth. We provide an overview for pathologists, clinicians and nutritionists of the methodology and terminology related to the n-3 biomarkers to aid their interpretation of proposed cut-point values for health risk.
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