title: Fatty acid composition of serum cholesteryl esters in 3- to 18-year-old Finnish children and its relation to diet.
abstract: The composition of fatty acids in serum cholesteryl esters (CE) was analyzed gas chromatographically in 1348 boys and girls aged from 3 to 18 yr. A dietary survey was carried out simultaneously using the 48-h recall method. The dietary P/S ratio had highly significant correlations with CE fatty acids: positive with linoleate (0.567) and total omega 6 fatty acids and negative with saturated, monounsaturated, and omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The highest mean percentage of CE-linoleate was found in 15-yr-old girls (52.7, SD 4.68%) and lowest in 3-yr-old girls (48.1, SD 5.00%). Age, sex, and the degree of puberty had no independent effect on CE-linoleate after it had been adjusted for the effect of dietary P/S ratio by analysis of covariance. These results indicate that the fatty acid composition of serum CE depends on the quality of dietary fat and that CE-linoleate is a useful reflector of the dietary P/S ratio. The negative correlation between CE omega 3 fatty acids and dietary P/S ratio may be due to displacement of the omega 3 acids in serum CE by the much higher proportion of dietary linoleate.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002788:Cholesterol Esters / Q000097:blood*; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000097:blood*; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011627:Puberty; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D002788:Cholesterol Esters; D004041:Dietary Fats; D005227:Fatty Acids; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated