Stine Krogh Venø

Association between high dietary intake of the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid and reduced risk of Crohn's disease

There are plausible mechanisms for how dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an n−3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, could prevent Crohns disease (CD).

The Effect of Low-Dose Marine n-3 Fatty Acids on Plasma Levels of sCD36 in Overweight Subjects: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

CD36 is a scavenger receptor involved in lipid uptake and inflammation. Recently, non-cell-bound CD36 (sCD36) was identified in plasma and suggested to be a marker of lipid accumulation in the vessel wall. Marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) may have cardioprotective effects. This study evaluated the effect of marine n-3 PUFA on sCD36 levels in overweight subjects. Fifty overweight subjects were randomized to 1.1 g of n-3 PUFA or 2 g of olive oil daily for six weeks. Neutrophils were isolated at baseline and after six weeks of treatment while an adipose tissue biopsy was obtained at baseline. The content of n-3 PUFA in adipose tissue and neutrophils was analyzed by gas chromatography, while plasma levels of sCD36 were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). After six weeks of supplement plasma sCD36 did not differ between supplements (P = 0.18). There was no significant correlation between plasma sCD36 levels and n-3 PUFA in neutrophils at baseline (r = −0.02, P = 0.88), after six weeks supplement (r = −0.03, P = 0.85) or in adipose tissue (r = 0.14, P = 0.34). This study therefore does not provide evidence for a cardioprotective effect of n-3 PUFA acting through a CD36-dependent mechanism.

Linoleic Acid in Adipose Tissue and Development of Ischemic Stroke: A Danish Case-Cohort Study

Background We investigated the association between the content of linoleic acid in adipose tissue, a biomarker of long‐term intake of linoleic acid, and the risk of ischemic stroke and its subtypes. Methods and Results The Danish cohort study Diet, Cancer and Health included 57 053 patients aged 50 to 65 years at enrollment. All participants had an adipose tissue biopsy performed at enrollment, while information on ischemic stroke during follow‐up was obtained from the Danish National Patient Register. Stroke diagnoses were all validated and classified according to the Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) classification. Cases and a randomly drawn subcohort of 3500 patients had their fatty acid composition in adipose tissue determined by gas chromatography. Hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated using weighted Cox proportional hazard regression. During 13.5 years of follow‐up, 1879 ischemic stroke cases were identified, for which 1755 adipose biopsies were available, while adipose biopsies were available for 3203 participants in the subcohort. When comparing the highest and the lowest quartiles of adipose tissue content of linoleic acid there was a negative association with the rate of total ischemic stroke (hazard ratio, 0.78; 95% confidence interval, 0.65–0.93) and large artery atherosclerosis (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% confidence interval, 0.43–0.88), while there was an indication of a negative association with small‐vessel occlusion (hazard ratio, 0.87; 95% confidence interval, 0.69–1.11). There was no clear association with the rate of cardioembolism. Conclusions The content of linoleic acid in adipose tissue was inversely associated with the risk of total ischemic stroke and stroke caused by large artery atherosclerosis.

Substitution of Linoleic Acid for Other Macronutrients and the Risk of Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose— Ischemic stroke is a major health problem worldwide, but the influence of dietary factors on stroke risk is not well known. This study aimed to investigate the risk of ischemic stroke and its subtypes with a higher intake from linoleic acid and a concomitant lower intake from saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, or glycemic carbohydrates. Methods— In the Danish prospective Diet, Cancer, and Health Study of 57 053 participants aged 50 to 64 years at baseline, information on diet was collected using a validated semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Information on ischemic stroke was obtained from the Danish National Patient Register, and cases were all validated and subclassified according to the TOAST (Trial of ORG 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment) classification. Substitution of linoleic acid for saturated fatty acid, monounsaturated fatty acid, or glycemic carbohydrates was investigated in relation to the risk of ischemic stroke and subtypes. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the associations with ischemic stroke adjusting for appropriate confounders. Results— During 13.5 years of follow-up 1879 participants developed ischemic stroke. A slightly lower risk of ischemic stroke was found with a 5% higher intake of linoleic acid and a concomitant lower intake of saturated fatty acid (hazard ratio, 0.98; 95% confidence interval, 0.83–1.16), monounsaturated fatty acid (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% confidence interval, 0.63–1.02), and glycemic carbohydrates (hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.78–1.09), although not statistically significant. Similar patterns of association were found for large-artery atherosclerosis and small-vessel occlusions. Conclusions— This study suggests that replacing saturated fatty acid, glycemic carbohydrate, or monounsaturated fatty acid with linoleic acid may be associated with a lower risk of ischemic stroke.

Adipose tissue content of alpha-linolenic acid and the risk of ischemic stroke and ischemic stroke subtypes: a Danish case-cohort study

Background The plant-derived omega-3 fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Objective We have investigated associations between the content of ALA in adipose tissue and the risk of ischemic stroke and its subtypes. Methods Incident cases of ischemic stroke among participants enrolled into the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health cohort (n = 57,053) were identified by linkage with the Danish National Patient Register. Subsequently, all potential cases were validated and classified into ischemic stroke subtypes. The fatty acid composition of adipose tissue was determined by gas chromatography in cases and in a randomly drawn sub-cohort (n = 3500). Statistical analyses were performed using weighted Cox regression. Results During a median of 13.4 years of follow-up, 1735 cases of total ischemic stroke were identified including 297 cases of large artery atherosclerosis, 772 cases of small-vessel occlusion, 99 cases of cardio-embolism, 91 cases with stroke of other etiology and 476 cases with stroke of undetermined etiology. The median content of ALA in adipose tissue within the sub-cohort was 0.84% (95% central range: 0.53–1.19%). Multivariable analyses showed a U-shaped association between adipose tissue content of ALA and the rate of total ischemic stroke, but this association was not statistically significant (p = 0.172). In analyses of ischemic stroke subtypes, we observed a statistically significant U-shaped association between ALA and the rate of ischemic stroke due to large artery atherosclerosis (p = 0.017), whereas no appreciable association was observed between ALA and the rate of small-vessel occlusion (p = 0.427). A positive but statistically non-significant association was observed between ALA and the rate of ischemic stroke due to cardio-embolism (p = 0.162). Conclusions The content of ALA in adipose tissue was statistically non-significantly U-shaped associated with risk of total ischemic stroke. For ischemic stroke subtypes a statistically significant, U-shaped association with large artery atherosclerosis was observed.

Adipose Tissue Lipophilic Index and Risk of Ischemic Stroke—A Danish Case-Cohort Study

Diet may influence the risk of ischemic stroke by several mechanisms. A potential and hitherto unknown mechanism may relate to an effect on the lipophilic index, which is a new and convenient indicator of membrane fluidity. This study investigated the association between the adipose tissue lipophilic index and ischemic stroke and its subtypes. A case-cohort study was conducted based on the Danish cohort study Diet, Cancer, and Health, which includes 57,053 subjects aged 50–64 years at enrolment. A subcohort (n = 3500) was randomly drawn from the whole cohort. All ischemic stroke cases were validated and categorized into subtypes. The lipophilic index was calculated based on fatty acid profiles in adipose tissue. Subjects were divided into quintiles and a weighted Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to calculate hazard ratios. After appropriate exclusions, a subcohort of 3194 subjects and 1752 cases of ischemic stroke were included. When comparing the fifth quintile of the lipophilic index with the first quintile, the hazard ratio for ischemic stroke was 0.92 (95% confidence interval 0.75, 1.13) and the trend across quintiles was not statistically significant (p = 0.1727). In conclusion, no association was found between the lipophilic index and ischemic stroke or its subtypes.