Dietary Fat Quality and Lipophilic Index among Mexican‐American Adults with and without Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

ObjectiveTo assess dietary and red blood cell (RBC) fatty acids (FA) and estimate the Lipophilic Index (LI), a novel index of FA fluidity, among Mexican‐American adults with and without Metabolic Syndrome (MS).MethodsFasting blood samples were collected from 75 Mexican‐American adults (65% female; 29% with MS; 38±9 years; BMI=29±5 kg/m2) for the measurement of plasma glucose, serum lipids and RBC FA profiles. Dietary intake was estimated using the Southwest Food Frequency Questionnaire and MS status was determined using NCEP ATP III criteria. LI was calculated as the sum of the products of the proportion of FA and melting points (°C) of each FA, divided by the sum of all FA.ResultsThe LI was positively correlated with serum triglyceride concentrations in all subjects, regardless of MS status (r=0.263, p=0.023). Participants reported consuming 29.8±19.2 g/d, 35.2±22.2 g/d, 17.5±11.6 g/d and 1.5±1.2 g/d of saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and trans FA, respectively. In contrast, FA levels in RBC were 42.5±2.3 mol %; 18.7±2.3 mol %; 38.0±2.6 mol % and 1.4±0.4 mol % for saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and trans FA, respectively. The LI was significantly higher among MS participants relative to those without MS (25.5±1.2 vs 24.7±1.0, p=0.007). There were no significant differences in dietary or RBC FA by MS status.ConclusionParticipants with MS had a greater LI but further studies with larger samples are required to assess whether LI is a better biomarker than either dietary or RBC FA, for CVD risk prediction in this population.