Fatty Acids and Risk of Peripheral Arterial Disease

Sep 27, 2018
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Authors:
Lasota AN, Grønholdt ML, Bork CS, Lundbye-Christensen S, Overvad K, Schmidt EB.
Citation:
Marine n-3 Fatty Acids and the Risk of Peripheral Arterial Disease. J Am Coll Cardiol 2018;72:1576-1584.
Summary By:
Geoffrey D. Barnes, MD, MSc, FACC

Study Questions:

What is the association between the content of marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in adipose tissue and the risk of incident peripheral artery disease (PAD)?

Methods:

The authors performed a case-control study using data from the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health cohort. In these patients, buttocks adipose tissue biopsies were taken at baseline. After a median follow-up of 13.5 years, patients were assessed based on their development of PAD (870 cases) or a random sample of patients without PAD (3,204 controls).

Results:

Using multivariable analysis, patients with the highest quintile of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) were at a lower risk for PAD than patients in the lowest quintile group (hazard ratio [HR], 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.41-0.74). There was also a lower risk for PAD in patients at the highest quintile of the combined EPA and docosahexaenoic acid as compared to patients in the lowest quintile (HR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.53-0.96).

Conclusions:

The authors concluded that a high content of marine n-3 PUFAs in adipose tissue (particularly EPA) was associated with a lower risk of incident PAD.

Perspective:

n-3 PUFAs have previously been associated with a lower risk of atherosclerotic disease, such as myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndromes, and ischemic stroke. The authors used adipose tissue levels of n-3 PUFAs to minimize the short-term fluctuations often seen in blood levels. While the results of this study suggest lower risk of incident PAD in patients with high adipose levels of marine n-3 PUFAs, prior studies have not found similar associations between fish intake and incident PAD. While this study is unlikely to influence clinical recommendations, future research should continue to explore the differential impact of EPA and docosahexaenoic acid on various atherosclerotic diseases, including PAD.

Clinical Topics: Dyslipidemia, Prevention, Vascular Medicine, Atherosclerotic Disease (CAD/PAD), Lipid Metabolism, Nonstatins

Keywords: Adipose Tissue, Atherosclerosis, Docosahexaenoic Acids, Eicosapentaenoic Acid, Fatty Acids, Fatty Acids, Omega-6, Peripheral Arterial Disease, Primary Prevention, Risk Factors, Vascular Diseases


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