Heart rate is associated with red blood cell fatty acid concentration: the Genetics of Coronary Artery Disease in Alaska Natives (GOCADAN) study.
BACKGROUND
Consumption of omega-3 fatty acids (FAs) is associated with a reduction in deaths from coronary heart disease, arrhythmia, and sudden death. Although these FAs were originally thought to be antiatherosclerotic, recent evidence suggests that their benefits are related to reducing risk for ventricular arrhythmia and that this may be mediated by a slowed heart rate (HR).


METHODS
The study was conducted in Alaskan Eskimos participating in the Genetics of Coronary Artery Disease in Alaska Natives (GOCADAN) Study, a population experiencing a dietary shift from unsaturated to saturated fats. We compared HR with red blood cell (RBC) FA content in 316 men and 391 women ages 35 to 74 years.


RESULTS
Multivariate linear regression analyses of individual FAs with HR as the dependent variable and specific FAs as covariates revealed negative associations between HR and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3; P = .004) and eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3; P = .009) and positive associations between HR and palmitoleic acid (16:1n-7; P = .021), eicosanoic acid (20:1n9; P = .007), and dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA; 20:3n-6; P = .021). Factor analysis revealed that the omega-3 FAs were negatively associated with HR (P = .003), whereas a cluster of other, non-omega-3 unsaturated FAs (16:1, 20:1, and 20:3) was positively associated.


CONCLUSIONS
Marine omega-3 FAs are associated with lower HR, whereas palmitoleic and DGLA, previously identified as associated with saturated FA consumption and directly related to cardiovascular mortality, are associated with higher HR. These relations may at least partially explain the relations between omega-3 FAs, ventricular arrhythmia, and sudden death.
Ebbesson
Sven O E
SO
Norton Sound Health Corporation, Nome, AK, USA. soebbesson@alaska.edu
Devereux
Richard B
RB
Cole
Shelley
S
Ebbesson
Lars O E
LO
Fabsitz
Richard R
RR
Haack
Karin
K
Harris
William S
WS
Howard
Wm James
WJ
Laston
Sandra
S
Lopez-Alvarenga
Juan Carlos
JC
MacCluer
Jean W
JW
Okin
Peter M
PM
Tejero
M Elizabeth
ME
Voruganti
V Saroja
VS
Wenger
Charlotte R
CR
Howard
Barbara V
BV
Comuzzie
Anthony G
AG
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000413:Alaska / Q000453:epidemiology; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics*; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000097:blood* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D004930:Inuit; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017180:Tachycardia, Ventricular / Q000097:blood / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology
D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3