Alcohol consumption and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in healthy men and women from 3 European populations.
BACKGROUND
Because high dietary and blood n-3 (omega-3) fatty acids (FAs) are protective against coronary heart disease and sudden cardiac death, the alcohol-associated increase in blood n-3 FAs could be considered an original mechanism of alcohol's cardioprotective effect.


OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to assess whether alcohol consumption is associated with concentrations of very-long-chain "marine" (eg, fish oil) n-3 FAs both in plasma and in red blood cell membranes.


METHODS
In the framework of the IMMIDIET (Dietary Habit Profile in European Communities with Different Risk of Myocardial Infarction: the Impact of Migration as a Model of Gene-Environment Interaction) Project, 1604 subjects (802 women-men pairs), aged 26-65 y, were enrolled in Italy, Belgium, and England. A 1-y-recall food-frequency questionnaire was used to evaluate dietary intake.


RESULTS
In fully adjusted multivariate analyses, alcohol intake was positively associated with plasma eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and EPA + DHA concentrations (P < 0.0001, P = 0.036, and P = 0.002, respectively) in women and with EPA and the EPA + DHA index in red blood cells (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.037, respectively). In men, only plasma and red blood cell EPA concentrations were associated with alcohol intake (P = 0.003 and P = 0.004, respectively). Stratified analyses showed an association between alcohol and both plasma and red cell EPA (P = 0.008 and P = 0.002, respectively), DHA (P = 0.014 and P = 0.008, respectively), and the EPA + DHA index (P = 0.010 and P = 0.006, respectively) in wine drinkers, whereas no association was found in those who drink beer and spirits.


CONCLUSIONS
Alcohol intake was associated with higher plasma and red blood cell concentrations of marine n-3 FAs. Components of wine other than alcohol (polyphenols) might exert these effects. Part of the alcohol-induced cardioprotection may be mediated through increased marine n-3 FAs.
di Giuseppe
Romina
R
Laboratory of Genetic and Environmental Epidemiology, Research Laboratories, John Paul II Centre for High Technology Research and Education in Biomedical Sciences, Catholic University, Campobasso, Italy.
de Lorgeril
Michel
M
Salen
Patricia
P
Laporte
François
F
Di Castelnuovo
Augusto
A
Krogh
Vittorio
V
Siani
Alfonso
A
Arnout
Jozef
J
Cappuccio
Francesco P
FP
van Dongen
Martien
M
Donati
Maria Benedetta
MB
de Gaetano
Giovanni
G
Iacoviello
Licia
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D001515:Beer; D001530:Belgium; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D004739:England; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000737:chemistry*; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014920:Wine
D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid