Abstract
Background: The long-chain omega-3 (n–3) fatty acids derived from fish, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases. Study of the associations between EPA and DHA intake and disease requires a valid biomarker of dietary intake; however, the direct measurement of tissue fatty acid concentrations is expensive and time consuming.Objective: Because the nitrogen stable isotope ratio (15N/14N, expressed as δ15N) is elevated in fish, we investigated whether δ15N is a valid alternative biomarker of EPA and DHA intake.Design: We examined the relation between red blood cell (RBC) δ15N and RBC EPA and DHA in a community-based sample of 496 Yup’ik Eskimos with widely varying intake of n–3 fatty acids. We also assessed the correlation between δ15N and dietary EPA and DHA intake based on 24-h dietary recalls and 3-d food records completed by a subset of 221 participants.Results: RBC δ15N was strongly correlated with RBC EPA and DHA (r = 0.83 and 0.75, respectively). These correlations differed only modestly by sex and age class. RBC δ15N also correlated with dietary EPA and DHA intake (r = 0.47 and 0.46, respectively) and did not differ by sex and age.Conclusions: The results strongly support the validity of RBC δ15N as a biomarker of EPA and DHA intake. Because the analysis of RBC δ15N is rapid and inexpensive, this method could facilitate wide-scale assessment of EPA and DHA intake in clinical and epidemiologic studies.
Highlights
The omega-3 (n–3) fatty acids derived from fish, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5n–3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n–3), are associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases [1,2,3]
We examined the relation between red blood cell (RBC) EPA and DHA and RBC d15N in a community-based sample of 496 Yup’ik Eskimos
We investigate the relations between d15N and dietary intake of EPA and DHA and RBC EPA and DHA in a subset of 221 participants
Summary
The omega-3 (n–3) fatty acids derived from fish, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5n–3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n–3), are associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases [1,2,3]. Our ability to detect associations between EPA and DHA intake, gene variants, and disease is limited by the validity and feasibility of dietary assessment. Both plasma and red blood cell (RBC) fatty acid composition are valid biomarkers of EPA and DHA intake [8,9,10,11,12,13], but their measurement requires technically challenging, expensive, and time-consuming assays that are impractical in large-scale studies. Study of the associations between EPA and DHA intake and disease requires a valid biomarker of dietary intake; the direct measurement of tissue fatty acid concentrations is expensive and time consuming.
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