Cupino A, Fraser G, Knutsen S, Knutsen R, Heskey C, Sabaté J, Shavlik D. Are total omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids predictors of fatal stroke in the Adventist Health Study 2 prospective cohort?
PLoS One 2022;
17:e0274109. [PMID:
36084005 PMCID:
PMC9462555 DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0274109]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction
The effects of omega-3 (n-3) and omega-6 (n-6) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on cerebrovascular disease remain unsettled. However, most studies have focused on marine sourced n-3 PUFA rather than total n-3 PUFA, of which the majority in the American diet is plant derived. This study therefore intended to investigate these effects in a cohort for which the vegetarian diet was more prevalent than the general public.
Methods
Cox proportional hazards with fatal stroke as the outcome was performed on the approximately 96,000 subject Adventist Health Study 2 prospective cohort. Stratification by race and sex was performed on models with a priori covariables, comparing 90th to 10th percentile daily intakes of energy-adjusted total n-3 PUFA, total n-6 PUFA, and the n-6 / n-3 PUFA ratio as variables of interest.
Results
For the main analytical group (78,335 subjects), the hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) for total n-3 PUFA was 0.65 (0.51–0.83), and for total n-6 PUFA was 1.37 (1.02–1.82), while adjusting for both fatty acids in the model. The n-6 / n-3 PUFA ratio was harmful with a HR of 1.40 (1.16–1.69), whereas the inclusion of total n-3 PUFA slightly attenuated the HR to 1.33(1.02–1.74). Effects were similar for the non-black sex-combined and sex-specific analyses.
Conclusion
In most analytic groups, subjects with greater total n-3 PUFA intakes have lower risk of fatal stroke, and those with a higher n-6 / n-3 PUFA ratio had higher risk. However, the n-6 / n-3 PUFA ratio remains statistically significant even after adjusting for total n-3 PUFA or total n-6 PUFA, suggesting that the ratio is of epidemiologic interest for cerebrovascular disease research.
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