Relationship between triglycerides polyunsaturated fatty acid composition and visceral fat in patients with metabolic syndrome

Abstract

Objective Essential polyunsaturated fatty acids(PUFA) can not been synthesized by the body-self. Serum triglycerides n-6 and n-3 PUFAs directly or indirectly reflect the corresponding unsaturated fatty acids intake from meals. This study was to investigate the relationship of serum triglycerides polyunsaturated fatty acid composition with the ratio of n-6 to n-3 PUFA(n-6/n-3 PUFA) and magnetic resonance imaging measured intra-abdominal fat(MRI-IAF) with other body fat parameters of patients with metabolic syndrome. Methods Thirty-six patients with metabolic syndrome and 41 healthy controls were enrolled in this investigation. The relevance of serum triglycerides polyunsaturated fatty acids with MRI-IAF was observed. A stepwise regression analysis was applied to determine which kind of triglycerides polyunsaturated fatty acid could predict MRI-IAF, waist circumference and body mass index (BMI) more potent. Results In the metabolic syndrome group, blood sugar, lipid profiles, blood pressure, visceral fat accumulation-related parameters and serum triglycerides polyunsaturated fatty acid composition was worse than those in the control group. Compared with the healthy controls, n-6/n-3 PUFA was significantly increased(t=8.564, P 0.05). n-6/n-3 PUFA, n-3 PUFA, EPA and DHA were associated with MRI-IAF(r=-0.377,0.565, all P<0.05); n-6/n-3 PUFA was correlated with the waist circumference(r=0.400, P=0.016) and BMI(r=0.357, P=0.033), while n-6 PUFA showed no correlation with body fat parameters. N-6/n-3 PUFA was more potent to predict MRI-IAF, waist circumference and BMI(adjusted R2=0.102,0.299, all P<0.05) than other polyunsaturated fatty acids. Conclusions The ratio of n-6/n-3 PUFA and n-3 PUFA may be positively correlated with EPA and DHA could be inversely associated with MRI-IAF and other body fat-related parameters in patients with metabolic syndrome, while n-6 PUFA did not show such a relationship. The ratio of n-6/n-3 PUFA might be more potent to predict MRI-IAF and other body fat-related parameters. Key words: Metabolic syndrome X; Magnetic resonance imaging; Intra-abdominal fat; N-3 fatty acids