The Percentage of n‐3 Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acids in Total HUFA as a Biomarker for Omega‐3 Fatty Acid Status in Tissues

Abstract

A blood biomarker of omega-3 fatty acid intake and tissue status could serve as a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The percentage of omega-3 highly unsaturated fatty acid (HUFA > or = 20 carbons and > or =3 double bonds) in the total HUFA pool (the n-3 HUFA score) was examined as a potential blood biomarker of omega-3 fatty acids in tissues. The fatty acid composition of total lipid extracts (TLE) and phospholipid (PL) fractions were determined for plasma and erythrocytes samples of human subjects (n = 20) and the n-3 HUFA score and the sum of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were compared. Omega-3 fatty acids in blood and tissues of rats (n = 31) and pigs (n = 48) were also determined and the associations were compared. The n-3 HUFA score is more consistent across plasma and erythrocytes, with strong correlations between TLE and PL in plasma (r = 0.93) and erythrocytes (r = 0.94). The n-3 HUFA score was less variable and blood levels correlated strongly with various animal tissues. The n-3 HUFA score is a useful blood biomarker that does not require the isolation of the PL class thereby supporting high throughput analyses. The strength of association between the n-3 HUFA score and disease risk needs to be examined.

Diet-Induced Changes in n-3- and n-6-Derived Endocannabinoids and Reductions in Headache Pain and Psychological Distress

“…Kim et al demonstrated that DHA-EA is a potent stimulator of neuritogenesis, synaptogenesis, and synaptic protein expression in developing hippocampal neurons 32, 34, 39 . These neurogenic properties could help explain the finding of improved functional recovery with DHA supplementation after experimental SCI reported by Figueroa et al 37 . In addition, these properties highlight the potential of the H3-L6 intervention as a therapeutic strategy that should be tested for enhancing recovery after traumatic brain or spinal cord injury.…”

Dairy fat blends high in α-linolenic acid are superior to n-3 fatty-acid-enriched palm oil blends for increasing DHA levels in the brains of young rats

“…The composite variable calculated from these 10 fatty acids improved prediction compared to RBC n-3 DPA, which we had found to be the most strongly associated with brain DHA. We also compared the predictive performance of our composite index to the unsaturated fatty acid index of Stark [47] and found that our composite index was still better (R 2 =0.54 calculated from RBC fatty acids and 0.41 calculated from plasma fatty acids, whereas our result was 0.60). Due to the contradictory results found across the literature in finding a reliable and universal biomarker of brain DHA, the strategy of using a composite biomarker could be an interesting alternative but, at this stage, still requires validation in other models.…”

Biomarkers for Personalizing Omega-3 Fatty Acid Dosing

“…Published data to date suggest that fatty acids in both rodents and humans after feeding ω3 fatty acids correlate with intake but few direct comparisons with comparable doses are known. For example, Stark assayed bioavailability of ω3 fatty acids in rats, pigs and humans, but none were dosed equivalently (46). Previous data suggest a pharmacodynamic relationship between fatty acid concentrations in blood or tissue compartments and eicosanoids in rodents (13) and in humans (41); but a direct comparison with pharmacodynamics models using rat data and applying it to humans has not been published.…”