Abstract
BackgroundThe aim was to investigate if fatty acid profile and estimated desaturase activities; stearoyl CoA-desaturase (SCD), delta-5-desaturase and delta-6-desaturase (D5D; D6D), differ between individuals with metabolically healthy (MH) and unhealthy (MU) phenotypes. We also explored these associations according to BMI categories.MethodsMen and women at moderately elevated risk of cardiovascular disease were included in this cross-sectional study (n = 321). If subjects met ≥4 out of 5 criteria (elevated triglycerides, total and LDL-cholesterol, HbA1c and low HDL-cholesterol), they were classified as MU (n = 52). If levels were within reference ranges for ≥3 of the same criteria, subjects were classified as MH (n = 150). Utilizing the entire population, a score ranging from 0 to 5 denoting the number of MU criteria met was computed. Estimated desaturase activities were calculated as product-to-precursor ratio of fatty acids in whole blood (SCD16 [16:1n7/16:0], SCD18 [18:1n9/18:0], D5D [18:3n6/18:2n6], D6D [20:4n6/20:3n6]).ResultsIndividuals with MH had lower estimated SCD16 and SCD18 activities, whereas estimated D6D activity was higher compared to MU. Similar, SCD16 and SCD18 increased, whereas D6D decreased with increasing criteria of MU. Trends were similar across BMI categories.ConclusionsThis study supports the notion of estimated desaturase activities as possible novel biomarkers of metabolic health irrespectively of BMI.
Highlights
Cardiometabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) remain the major contributors to the global burden of disease [1]
We further explored whether trends were similar in body mass index (BMI) categories by adding an interaction term to the models (BMI × metabolic status) to assess whether the association of metabolic status with fatty acid (FA) profiles depended on BMI
Of the FAs measured, C18:0 was higher, whereas C14: 0 and C16:0 were lower in the metabolically healthy (MH) group compared with metabolically unhealthy (MU) group
Summary
Cardiometabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) remain the major contributors to the global burden of disease [1]. Obesity is an important risk factor for cardiometabolic disorders, and is associated with insulin resistance, Svendsen et al Lipids in Health and Disease (2020) 19:102 exist [5, 6]. The aim was to investigate if fatty acid profile and estimated desaturase activities; stearoyl CoAdesaturase (SCD), delta-5-desaturase and delta-6-desaturase (D5D; D6D), differ between individuals with metabolically healthy (MH) and unhealthy (MU) phenotypes. We explored these associations according to BMI categories
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