60 Fatty acid profiles in DBS are not consistently mirrored by usual intake: an enable study

Introduction

Age is a well-established risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The intake of fatty acids is substantially modulating CVD morbidity. This analysis aimed to compare fatty acid patterns of adolescents, middle-agers and older people concerning their consumption of meat/meat products, egg products, and fish.

Methods

Fatty acids profiles from whole blood including, fatty acids of young adults (n=91), middle-agers (n=199), and older people (n=115), were analysed in dried blood spots (DBS) by VITAS (Oslo, Norway) using UPLS-MS (ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy). First, the mean±sd of fatty acid profiles were compared between the different age groups. In the next step, usual dietary intake estimating the consumption from 24-h food lists and food frequency questionnaires were associated with fatty acids measured in DBS.

Results

The ratio omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids decreased significantly with age (p<0.001). Young adults showed 10.3±2.04, middle-agers 9.7±2.28, and older people 8.8±2.56 area-% of listed fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). Omega-3 fatty acid values reflected the usual dietary intake of fish, which is significantly increasing (p<0.001) with age (young adults, 12.2±7.62 g/day; middle-agers, 22.7±14.12 g/day; older people 26.6±14.39 g/day). Consequently, we could show a positive association between fish intake and eicosapentaenoic acid measured in DBS (p<0.001, r=0.34). Moreover, also the usual intake of meat (young adults, 105.3±40.98 g/day; middle-agers, 118.9±45.66 g/day, older people, 99.2±38.02), and egg products (young adults 15.4±12.51 g/day; middle-agers 19.6±13.83, older people 21.8±13.92) altered significantly with age. In contrast, DBS levels do not reflect these changes by measuring arachidonic acid (p=0.09, r=0.89; young adults, 7.8±1.20; middle agers, 7.1±1.20, older people 7.0±1.38 area-% of listed FAME).

Conclusions

Age-dependent alterations in usual intake are not necessarily reflected by analogous changes in dried blood spot levels of fatty acids. More detailed studies on modulating parameters, like enzyme activities, in the fatty acid metabolism during ageing are necessary to unravel apparent inconsistencies.

Publication History

Article published online:
24 September 2021