Fatty acid intake and the risk of community-acquired pneumonia in U.S. women.
OBJECTIVE
Despite substantial progress in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia, there are limited data on dietary risk factors. Fatty acid intake may influence community-acquired pneumonia risk by modulating the immune system. Our study prospectively examined the association between fatty acid intake and community-acquired pneumonia risk.


METHODS
The study population included 83165 women from the Nurses' Health Study II cohort who were 27 to 44 y old in 1991. The women reported lifestyle habits on biennial questionnaires and dietary intake every 4 y by validated semiquantitative food frequency questionnaires. There were 925 pneumonia cases over 10 y of follow-up. We examined independent associations for six fatty acids using Cox's proportional hazards regression.


RESULTS
Women in the highest quintile of palmitic acid intake had a 54% greater risk of pneumonia compared with those in the lowest quintile (multivariate relative risk 1.54, 95% confidence interval 1.12-2.12, P for trend = 0.002). Oleic acid intake was inversely associated with pneumonia risk (highest quintile multivariate relative risk 0.75, 95% confidence interval 0.55-1.04, P for trend = 0.02). Women in the highest quintile of docosahexanoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid intake had a 24% greater risk of community-acquired pneumonia than did those in the lowest quintile (multivariate relative risk 1.24, 95% confidence interval 1.00-1.55, P for trend = 0.08). No significant associations were found for linoleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid, or docosahexanoic acid alone.


CONCLUSIONS
Fatty acid intake may affect the risk of community-acquired pneumonia in young and middle-aged women. Higher dietary intake of palmitic acid and possibly docosahexanoic and eicosapentaenoic acids may increase the risk of community-acquired pneumonia in women, whereas higher oleic acid intake may decrease the risk.
Alperovich
Michael
M
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Neuman
Mark I
MI
Willett
Walter C
WC
Curhan
Gary C
GC
D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000008:administration & dosage; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6 / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D004041:Dietary Fats; D005227:Fatty Acids; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6