Abstract MP068: Dietary Fatty Acids and Coronary Heart Disease in Mortality in the Alpha Omega Cohort

Abstract

Background: Replacement of saturated fatty acids (SFA) with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) is associated with a lower risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in the general population. Whether this is also the case for CHD patients is not yet clear. In this observational study of Dutch CHD patients, we examined the risk of CHD mortality for the exchange of SFA with total unsaturated fatty acids (UFA), PUFA and cis -monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA). Methods: We included 4146 post-myocardial infarction patients aged 60-80 (78% male; Alpha Omega Cohort) in whom diet was assessed at baseline (2002-2006) by a validated 203-item food-frequency questionnaire. Cause-specific mortality was monitored until January 2013. Iso-caloric replacement of SFA with (subgroups of) UFA in relation to CHD mortality was studied in quintiles and continuously per 5 energy percent (en%), using Cox regression models. Hazard ratios (HR, 95%-CI) were obtained after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, smoking, education, physical activity, cardiovascular drugs (anticoagulants, antihypertensives, statins), diabetes, and dietary factors, i.e. total energy, protein (en%), carbohydrates (en%), trans fatty acids (en%), dietary fiber (g/d) and dietary cholesterol (mg/d). The model for PUFA also included MUFA as a covariate, and vice versa . Results: During a median follow-up of 7.3 years, there were 888 deaths including 249 CHD deaths. SFA replacement was inversely associated with CHD mortality when comparing extreme quintiles of intake, which was statistically significant for total UFA (HR: 0.44; 95% CI: 0.21-0.92; P = 0.03) and non-significant for PUFA (0.58, 0.31-1.09) and MUFA (0.81, 0.45-1.49). When expressed per 5 en% (Figure), replacing SFA with either UFA, PUFA or MUFA was associated with a more than 30% lower risk of CHD mortality. Findings were similar when confined to statin users. Conclusion: In well-treated CHD patients, replacement of SFA by UFA is associated with a lower CHD mortality risk.