Association between the intake of α-linolenic acid and the risk of CHD

Abstract

Intake of the mainly plant derived n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) α-linolenic acid (ALA) has been associated with lower risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). However, the results have been inconsistent. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the association between ALA consumption and risk of CHD. Potential effect modification by long-chain n-3 PUFA (n-3 LCPUFA) was also investigated. Data from eight American and European prospective cohort studies including 148,675 women and 80,368 men were used. The outcome measure was incident CHD (CHD event and death). During follow-up of 4-10 years, 4,493 CHD events and 1,751 CHD deaths occurred. Among men we found an inverse association (not significant) between intake of ALA and CHD event and death. For each additional gram of ALA, there was a 15% lower risk of CHD events (HR: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.72, 1.01) and a 23% lower risk of CHD deaths (HR: 0.77; 95% CI 0.58, 1.01). We found no consistent associations among women. No effect modification by intake of n-3 LCPUFA was found.

Intake of α-linolenic acid is not consistently associated with a lower risk of peripheral artery disease: results from a Danish cohort study

“…Previous studies have suggested that high intakes of the major n-6 PUFA linoleic acid and LC n-3 PUFA may lower the conversion efficiency of ALA into LC n-3 PUFA due to inhibition on shared enzymes. The median intake of LC n-3 PUFA in this cohort was 0•7 g/d, which was higher than that in cohort studies reporting inverse associations between ALA intake and CHD (15,16,(18)(19)(20) and this may be of importance for our study findings because a large study has suggested that ALA may reduce CHD risk in particular when intake of LC n-3 PUFA is low (17) . However, further well-powered studies investigating the role of genetics and intake of LC n-3 and n-6 PUFA on the association between ALA and the risk of atherosclerotic CVD are warranted.…”

“…The majority of previous follow-up studies investigating the association between ALA intake and the risk of atherosclerotic CVD have focused on CHD. Some cohort studies have reported inverse associations between ALA intake and CHD risk (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20) , but the results were not consistent (18,(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27) . Few studies have investigated associations between ALA intake and the risk of ischaemic stroke (22,23,(28)(29)(30) , but to our knowledge no previous follow-up studies have investigated the association between ALA intake and the risk of PAD.…”

The association and dose–response relationship between dietary intake of α-linolenic acid and risk of CHD: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies

“…Pan et al (9) showed a significant inverse association and a linear dose-response relationship between ALA intake and risk of fatal CHD, though it did not show an overall CHD outcome, but a composite of all cardiovascular events, including CHD, stroke and other CVD events with an association of similar magnitude. Vedtofte et al (25) previously found that 1 g/d of ALA consumed was associated with a 15 % lower risk of CHD events and a 23 % lower risk of CHD deaths in males. Although it did not reach statistical significance, a potential non-linear relationship was not tested.…”

Can rapeseed oil replace olive oil as part of a Mediterranean-style diet?

“…Tyrosol and hydroxytyrosol have been shown to decrease activation by b-amyloid of the pro-inflammatory transcription factor NF-kB in cultured neuroblastoma cells (78) . In mouse models of Alzheimer's disease where there is increased levels of b-amyloid, the EVOO phenolic compounds oleocanthal (99) 2014…”