Abstract
BackgroundAlthough evidence indicates that fatty acids (FA) can affect insulin resistance (IR), not all FA contribute equally to the process. Indeed, monounsaturated FA (MUFA) and polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) are reported to reduce IR, whereas saturated FA (SFA) and trans FA appear to increase IR. However, it is not yet clear how individual FA are associated with markers of IR, and whether these relationships are influenced by ethnicity and/or sex. Therefore, the goal of this study was to examine the ethnic- and sex-specific relationships between plasma FA and markers of IR in a cohort of healthy young Caucasian, East Asian, and South Asian adults.MethodsGas chromatography was used to quantify fasting plasma FA from young Canadian adults (22.6 ± 0.1 yrs) of Caucasian (n = 461), East Asian (n = 362), or South Asian (n = 104) descent. Linear regression models were used to investigate associations between plasma FA and markers of IR (i.e. fasting insulin, glucose, and HOMA-IR) according to ethnicity and sex.ResultsNumerous significant associations (P < 0.05, adjusted for multiple testing) were identified between individual FA and markers of IR, with the majority identified in Caucasians. For SFA, positive associations were found between 14:0 and fasting insulin and HOMA-IR in Caucasian and East Asian populations, and 18:0 and fasting glucose in Caucasians only. Several positive associations were also found for specific MUFA (18:1t11 and 18:1t6-8 with HOMA-IR, and 18:1c9 with fasting glucose) and PUFA (18:2n6 with fasting glucose and 18:2c9t11 with HOMA-IR) in Caucasian adults only. Most of the aforementioned associations were stronger in males compared to females. Interestingly, no significant associations were found between FA and markers of IR in South Asian adults.ConclusionsWe report numerous associations between plasma FA and markers of IR in Caucasian and East Asian populations, but not in South Asian individuals. Furthermore, these associations appeared to be more robust in men. This demonstrates the importance of investigating associations between FA and markers of IR in an ethnic- and sex-specific manner in order to better understand the contribution of plasma FA to the development of IR and type-2 diabetes.
Highlights
Evidence indicates that fatty acids (FA) can affect insulin resistance (IR), not all FA contribute to the process
Associations between fatty acids and markers of insulin resistance Our gas chromatography (GC) platform is able to detect 62 distinct FA; for the current study we only considered FA that were consistently detected in all plasma samples
This aligns with previous work by Frias et al, who demonstrated that elevations of plasma free FA concentrations impaired insulin sensitivity in the tissues of men, but not women [19]
Summary
Evidence indicates that fatty acids (FA) can affect insulin resistance (IR), not all FA contribute to the process. Recent work by Goff et al demonstrated that individuals of South Asian, African-Caribbean and European origins differ significantly in their habitual dietary intake (e.g. total daily energy intake, % fat intake, and % sugar intake) and that these characteristics are associated with differences in basal insulin sensitivity and secretion [18]. Such ethnic-specific differences are likely not explained by a single factor, but rather a myriad of complex geneenvironment interactions. There is a need to conduct further analyses in order to elucidate whether the relationships between FA and markers of IR differ between ethnicities
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