title: Trans-fatty acid consumption and heart rate variability in 2 separate cohorts of older and younger adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Trans-fatty acid (TFA) consumption is associated with risk of coronary heart disease, and trans-18:2, but not trans-18:1, in red blood cell membranes has been associated with sudden cardiac arrest. Abnormal heart rate variability (HRV) reflects autonomic dysfunction and predicts cardiac death. Relationships between TFA consumption and HRV remain understudied. We determined whether total TFA consumption, as well as trans-18:1 and trans-18:2 TFA consumption, was independently associated with HRV in 2 independent cohorts in the United States and Portugal.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 2 independent cohorts of older US adults (Cardiovascular Health Study [CHS], age 72±5 years, 1989/1995) and young Portuguese adults (Porto, age 19±2 years, 2008/2010), we assessed habitual TFA intake by food frequency questionnaires in CHS (separately estimating trans-18:1 and trans-18:2) and multiple 24-hour recalls in Porto (estimating total TFA only, which in a subset correlated with circulating trans-18:2 but not trans-18:1, suggesting that we captured the former). HRV was assessed using 24-hour Holters in CHS (n=1076) and repeated short-term (5-minute) ECGs in Porto (n=160). We used multivariate-adjusted linear regression to relate TFA consumption to HRV cross-sectionally (CHS, Porto) and longitudinally (CHS). In CHS, higher trans-18:2 consumption was associated with lower 24-hour SD of all normal-to-normal intervals both cross-sectionally (-12%; 95% CI, -19% to -6%; P=0.001) and longitudinally (-15%; 95% CI, -25% to -4%; P= 0.009) and lower 24-hour SD of 5-minute average N-N intervals and mean of the 5-minute SD of N-N intervals calculated over 24 hours (P<0.05 each). Higher trans-18:1 consumption in CHS was associated with more favorable 24-hour HRV in particular time-domain indices (24-hour SD of all normal-to-normal intervals, SD of 5-minute average N-N intervals, mean of the 5-minute SD of N-N intervals calculated over 24 hours; P<0.05 each). In Porto, each higher SD TFA consumption was associated with 4% lower 5-minute 24-hour SD of all normal-to-normal intervals (95% CI, -8% to -1%; P=0.04) and 7% lower 5-minute square root of the mean of the squares of successive N-N differences (95% CI, -13% to -1%; P=0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Trans-18:2 consumption is associated with specific, less favorable indices of HRV in both older and young adults. Trans-18:1 consumption is associated with more favorable HRV indices in older adults. Our results support the need to investigate potential HRV-related mechanisms, whereby trans-18:2 may increase arrhythmic risk.
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. lsoaresm@hsph.harvard.edu
authors: Luisa
authors: L
authors: Soares-Miranda
authors: Phyllis K
authors: PK
authors: Stein
authors: Fumiaki
authors: F
authors: Imamura
authors: Jacob
authors: J
authors: Sattelmair
authors: Rozenn N
authors: RN
authors: Lemaitre
authors: David S
authors: DS
authors: Siscovick
authors: Jorge
authors: J
authors: Mota
authors: Dariush
authors: D
authors: Mozaffarian
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011174:Portugal; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044242:Trans Fatty Acids / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D044242:Trans Fatty Acids