Blood omega-3 fatty acids and coronary artery stenosis: a postmortem study.

IF 3.9 2区医学 Q2 BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Lipids in Health and Disease Pub Date : 2025-09-25 DOI:10.1186/s12944-025-02697-1

Brad Randall, Aleksa Leković, Slobodan Nikolić, William S Harris

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Abstract

The role of omega-3 fatty acids in the atherosclerotic process remains unclear. Early studies demonstrated a profound anti-atherogenic effect of cod liver oil in a pig model, and autopsy reports from Alaska Natives consuming omega-3 rich diets have supported this hypothesis, but meta-analyses of omega-3 randomized trials have produced mixed results vis-à-vis cardiovascular disease. The present study was undertaken to examine the relationship between post-mortem blood omega-3 levels and maximal stenosis of the coronary arteries at autopsy. Blood was collected from the femoral artery of 112 sequential fatalities and analyzed for fatty acid composition. The erythrocyte EPA + DHA level (the omega-3 index) was found to have degraded compared to levels in 30 living controls, but the ratio of Arachidonic Acid (AA) to EPA was unaffected, thus it was used as a biomarker of omega-3 status. We found no association between the maximal coronary artery stenosis and the AA: EPA ratio. The omega-3 index estimated from the AA: EPA ratio in the cases was 2.1%, one of the lowest mean values for any population yet tested. Thus, the lack of association between omega-3 status and coronary atherosclerosis may be due to the very low omega-3 index in this cohort.

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血液中omega-3脂肪酸和冠状动脉狭窄：一项死后研究。

omega-3脂肪酸在动脉粥样硬化过程中的作用尚不清楚。早期的研究表明，鱼肝油在猪模型中具有深远的抗动脉粥样硬化作用，阿拉斯加土著人食用富含omega-3饮食的尸检报告也支持这一假设，但omega-3随机试验的荟萃分析对-à-vis心血管疾病产生了不同的结果。本研究旨在检验死后血液中omega-3水平与尸检时冠状动脉最大狭窄之间的关系。从连续死亡的112例患者的股动脉采血，分析其脂肪酸组成。红细胞EPA + DHA水平（omega-3指数）与30个活体对照相比有所下降，但花生四烯酸（AA）与EPA的比例未受影响，因此它被用作omega-3状态的生物标志物。我们发现最大冠状动脉狭窄与AA: EPA比值没有关联。根据AA: EPA比值估计，这些病例的omega-3指数为2.1%，是所有测试人群中最低的平均值之一。因此，omega-3水平与冠状动脉粥样硬化之间缺乏相关性可能是由于该队列中omega-3指数非常低。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Lipids in Health and Disease 生物-生化与分子生物学

CiteScore

7.70

自引率

2.20%

发文量

122

审稿时长

3-8 weeks

期刊介绍： Lipids in Health and Disease is an open access, peer-reviewed, journal that publishes articles on all aspects of lipids: their biochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, role in health and disease, and the synthesis of new lipid compounds. Lipids in Health and Disease is aimed at all scientists, health professionals and physicians interested in the area of lipids. Lipids are defined here in their broadest sense, to include: cholesterol, essential fatty acids, saturated fatty acids, phospholipids, inositol lipids, second messenger lipids, enzymes and synthetic machinery that is involved in the metabolism of various lipids in the cells and tissues, and also various aspects of lipid transport, etc. In addition, the journal also publishes research that investigates and defines the role of lipids in various physiological processes, pathology and disease. In particular, the journal aims to bridge the gap between the bench and the clinic by publishing articles that are particularly relevant to human diseases and the role of lipids in the management of various diseases.