Abstract P305: Incidence of Coronary Artery Calcification and Its Association With Eicosapentaenoic Acids From The ERA JUMP Study

Abstract

Objectives: To compare incidence of coronary artery calcification (CAC) between men in Japan and the US and to examine whether marine n-3 fatty acids contribute to the difference in the incidence. Methods: The ERA JUMP Study is a population-based longitudinal study which has examined the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis in Japanese, Japanese American and white men aged 40-49 at baseline in 2002-2007. Incident cases of CAC were defined as those with CAC score=zero at baseline (n=278: 167 Japanese and 111 whites) and CAC score ≥10 at follow-up. Mean follow-up years were 6.2 for Japanese and 4.6 for whites. Stepwise robust logistic regression was used to determine baseline predictors of CAC incidence in each group. Generalized linear model was used to examine whether the difference in risk factors and marine n-3 fatty acids at baseline between Japanese and whites contributed to the difference in incidence rates. Results: Baseline characteristics show that levels of risk factors were similar between the two groups including LDL-C and BP. Exceptions were higher rates of smoking in Japanese (49 vs. 7%) and higher levels of HDL-C in Japanese (54 vs. 49 mg/dL). Levels of marine n-3 fatty acids were 100+% higher in Japanese. Incidence rate was significantly lower in Japanese than in whites (0.9 for Japanese vs. 2.9 for whites (per 100 person years) p<0.01). Logistic regression analyses showed that predictors of CAC incidence were HDL-C, BMI, and triglycerides for whites and BP and eicosapentaenoic acids (EPA) for Japanese. Generalized linear model showed that incidence rate ratio was 0.606 after adjusting for age, follow-up time, BMI, BP, HDL-C, LDL-C, and smoking (p<0.01), which remained significant after further adjusting for other risk factors. However, after further adjusting for EPA, the statistical significance disappeared (p=0.07). ( Table ) Conclusions: CAC incidence is significantly lower in Japanese than in white men. The data suggest that high levels of EPA contribute to the lower CAC incidence in Japanese. Table. Incidence rate ratio of coronary artery calcification between Japanese men and white men (n=278) Incidence rate ratio between two groups (95% CI) (Japanese vs. whites) p -value Model I 0.606 (0.427, 0.861) <0.01 Model II 0.571 (0.392, 0.830) <0.01 Model III 0.669 (0.431, 1.038) 0.07 Model I: Adjusted for age, follow-up time, BMI, BP sys, HDL-C pack-years of smoking and LDL-C Model II: Further adjusted for triglycerides, glucose, hypertension medication, lipid medication, CRP and alcohol Model III: Further adjusted for EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid)