Association between Plasma N-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Levels and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in a Community-based Cohort Study

Wei-Sin Yang,Ta-Chen Su,Hsiu-Ching Hsu,Kuo-Liong Chien,Pei-Chun Chen,Ming-Fong Chen,Yun-Yu Chen,Hung-Ju Lin,Yuan-Teh Lee

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-55686-7

Abstract

Most studies support that saturated fatty acid replacement with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) may reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and put emphasis on the effects of N-3 PUFAs. The reported relationships between N-6 PUFAs and CVD risks vary. We aimed to examine the associations between N-6 PUFA concentrations and CVD risks. In this community-based prospective cohort study on CVD-free patients at baseline (N = 1835, age: 60.6 ± 10.5 years, women: 44.5%), we measured the fatty acid concentrations in the blood using gas chromatography. Four hundred twenty-four participants developed CVDs during follow up. The total N-6 PUFA concentration was inversely associated with the CVD risk, with a 48% lower risk in the highest N-6 PUFA concentration quartile (hazard ratio = 0.52; P for trend <0.001). The estimated population attributable risk of N-6 PUFAs indicated that approximately 20.7% of CVD events would have been prevented if the plasma N-6 PUFA concentration had been higher than the median value. The total N-6 PUFA concentration presented the highest net reclassification improvement (NRI = 7.2%, P = 0.03) for predicting incident CVD. Further studies on N-6 PUFAs, diet habits, and their relationships with healthcare are warranted.

Highlights

Clinical Outcome Research and Training Center, Big Data Center, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan. 6These authors contributed : Wei-Sin Yang and Yun-Yu Chen. *email: klchien@
After adjusting for multiple factors, the hazard ratio (HR) for the incident cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) risk in the highest quartile of the total N-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) concentration was 0.52 as compared with that in the lowest quartile (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.38–0.71; P for trend
N-3 PUFAs showed no significant protective effects in our data

Summary

Introduction

Clinical Outcome Research and Training Center, Big Data Center, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan. 6These authors contributed : Wei-Sin Yang and Yun-Yu Chen. *email: klchien@. Clinical Outcome Research and Training Center, Big Data Center, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan. Prior studies put emphasis on the effects of N-3 PUFA consumption and have shown that N-3 PUFAs were correlated with the incident risk of coronary heart diseases (CHDs)[12] and that N-6 and N-3 PUFAs have competing roles in the synthesis of eicosanoids[21]. In 2009, the American Heart Association recommended the consumption of at least 5–10% of energy from N-6 PUFAs22. The results regarding the relationship between N-6 PUFAs and CVD risks have been inconsistent. Related data in Asian populations are limited[23,24,25,26,27,28,29]. We aimed to examine the associations between higher concentrations of N-6 PUFAs and CVD risks

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion