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BMC Cardiovascular Disorders
Published in: BMC Cardiovascular Disorders 1/2021

Open Access 01-12-2021 | Myocardial Infarction | Research article

Effect of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on ischemic heart disease and cardiometabolic risk factors: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Authors: Bayi Xu, Zhixia Xu, Duanmin Xu, Xuerui Tan

Published in: BMC Cardiovascular Disorders | Issue 1/2021

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Abstract

Background

The cardioprotective ability of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) is controversial. Most studies suggest a specific role for PUFAs in cardioprotection from ischemic heart disease (IHD). However, few studies have used genetic biomarkers of n-3 PUFAs to examine their potential relationships with IHD. This study aimed to use Mendelian randomization to evaluate whether genetically-predicted n-3 PUFAs affect IHD and cardiometabolic risk factors (CRFs).

Methods

Genetic variants strongly (p < 5 × 10–8) and independently (r2 > 0.1) associated with n-3 PUFAs were derived from the CHARGE Consortium (including 8,866 subjects of European ancestry) and were used as instrumental variables (IVs) for evaluating the effect of n-3 PUFAs, including α-linolenic acid (ALA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Data on the associations between the IVs and IHD, myocardial infarction, and CRFs (including diabetes, lipids, blood pressure, body mass index, and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)) were obtained from the UK Biobank SOFT CAD GWAS with the CARDIoGRAMplusC4D 1000 Genomes-based GWAS (113,937 IHD cases and 339,115 controls), the Myocardial Infarction Genetics and CARDIoGRAM Exome consortia (42,335 MI cases and 78,240 controls), the DIAbetes Genetics Replication And Meta-analysis consortium (26,676 diabetes mellitus cases and 132,532 controls), the Global Lipids Genetics Consortium (n = 196,475), the International Consortium for Blood Pressure (n = 69,395), and the meta-analysis of GWAS for body fat distribution in the UK Biobank and Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (n = 694,649).

Results

Genetically-predicted higher ALA was associated with lower risk of IHD, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and lower serum lipids. The effect size per 0.05-unit increase (about 1 standard deviation) in plasma ALA level) was − 1.173 (95% confidence interval − 2.214 to − 0.133) for IHD. DPA and EPA had no association with IHD but were associated with a higher risk of T2D, higher levels of lipids or WHR. DHA had no association with IHD or CRFs.

Conclusions

Our study suggests a benefit of ALA for IHD and its main risk factors. DHA, DPA, and EPA had no association with IHD but were partly associated with increasing cardiometabolic risk factors.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Effect of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on ischemic heart disease and cardiometabolic risk factors: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study
Authors
Bayi Xu
Zhixia Xu
Duanmin Xu
Xuerui Tan
Publication date
01-12-2021
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Cardiovascular Disorders / Issue 1/2021
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2261
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12872-021-02342-6

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