Fatty acids in the de novo lipogenesis pathway and risk of coronary heart disease: the Cardiovascular Health Study

Background: Circulating fatty acids (FA) reflect complex interrelations of diet and metabolism. Few studies have evaluated circulating FA as patterns related to cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Methods: We applied principal component analysis (PCA) to 39 plasma phospholipid FA measured in 2,972 older adults (mean age=72.1) at baseline (1992) in the Cardiovascular Health Study, and derived FA patterns. We evaluated prospective associations of identified FA patterns with 14-year incidence of CVD, adjudicated by centralized committee, using multivariate Cox proportional hazards corrected for regression dilution bias. The CHS-derived FA patterns were evaluated in a separate cohort for associations with angiographically-defined atherosclerosis progression over 3.5 years in 1,912 coronary segments of 228 postmenopausal women (mean age=65.4) with established CHD, including FA in phospholipids, triglycerides, and cholesteryl esters. Results: Three distinct patterns were identified, that we characterized as having higher trans FA (TFA pattern), de novo lipogenesis FA (DNL pattern), and dairy and long-chain monounsaturated FA (dairy-LCMUFA pattern). During 32,265 person-years, 780 CVD events occurred, including 512 CHD and 346 stroke. The TFA pattern was associated with higher CVD risk (HR for quintiles 5 vs. 1=2.47 [95% CI 1.35–4.51]; p trend=0.006) (Figure), primarily due to stroke (HR=4.68 [1.85–11.8]; p trend=0.003) but not CHD (HR=1.08 [0.50–2.32]; p trend=0.6). The DNL and dairy-LCMUFA patterns were not associated with CVD, or with CHD or stroke examined separately (p>0.1). In the second cohort, the TFA pattern, but not the other 2 patterns, in all lipid compartments was positively associated with progression of coronary stenosis (p trend<0.05). Conclusions: Our results suggest PCA can derive informative FA patterns for assessing disease risk. A pattern mainly reflecting higher trans FA levels is linked to higher risk of stroke in older adults, and coronary stenosis progression in women with CHD.

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Associations of Serum Nonesterified Fatty Acids With Coronary Heart Disease Mortality and Nonfatal Myocardial Infarction: The CHS (Cardiovascular Health Study) Cohort

Journal of the American Heart Association ◽

10.1161/jaha.120.019135 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

Author(s):

Neil K. Huang ◽

Petra Bůžková ◽

Nirupa R. Matthan ◽

Luc Djoussé ◽

Calvin H. Hirsch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Myocardial Infarction ◽

Fatty Acids ◽

Coronary Heart Disease ◽

Heart Disease ◽

Cardiovascular Health ◽

Nonfatal Myocardial Infarction ◽

Health Study ◽

Cardiovascular Health Study ◽

Nonesterified Fatty Acids ◽

Cox Regression Analysis

Background Significant associations have been reported between serum total nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) concentrations and coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality and incident nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) in some prospective cohort studies. Little is known about whether individual or subclasses (saturated, polyunsaturated [n‐6 and n‐3], and trans fatty acids) of serum NEFAs relate to CHD mortality and nonfatal MI. Methods and Results CHS (Cardiovascular Health Study) participants (N=1681) who had no history of MI, angina, or revascularization or were free of MI at baseline (1996–1997) were included. NEFAs were quantified using gas chromatography. Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate associations of 5 subclasses and individual NEFAs with CHD composite (CHD mortality and nonfatal MI), CHD mortality, and incident nonfatal MI. During a median follow‐up of 11.7 years, 266 cases of CHD death and 271 cases of nonfatal MI occurred. In the fully adjusted model, no significant associations were identified between individual NEFA and CHD composite. Exploratory analyses indicated that lauric acid (12:0) was negatively associated (hazard ratio [HR], 0.76; 95% CI, 0.59–0.98; P =0.0328) and dihomo‐γ‐linolenic acid (20:3n‐6) was positively associated with CHD mortality (HR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.02–1.76; P =0.0351). Elaidic acid (18:1n‐7 t ) was positively associated with incident nonfatal MI (HR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.01–2.12; P =0.0445). No significant associations were observed for NEFA subclass and any outcomes. Conclusions In CHS participants, 2 NEFAs, dihomo‐γ‐linolenic and elaidic acids, were positively associated with CHD mortality and nonfatal MI, respectively, suggesting potential susceptibility biomarkers for risks of CHD mortality and nonfatal MI.

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