title: Inverse association between docosahexaenoic acid and mortality in patients on hemodialysis during over 10 years.
abstract: We have previously conducted a cohort study to investigate n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in red blood cells (RBCs) and risk of all-cause mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients over 5 years and found that n-3 PUFAs, especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), might be an independent predictor of all-cause mortality. In the present study, we extended the study for another 5 years to determine whether DHA levels in RBCs still predict the mortality of HD patients during a 10-year study period. The study cohort consisted of 176 patients (64.1 ± 12.0 [mean ± standard deviation] years of age, 96 men and 80 women) under HD treatment. The fatty acid composition of patients' RBCs was analyzed by gas chromatography. During the study period of 10 years, 97 deaths occurred. After adjustment for 10 confounding factors, the hazard ratio of all-cause mortality of the HD patients in the highest DHA tertile (>8.1%) was 0.52 (95% confidence interval 0.30-0.91) compared with those in the lowest DHA tertile (<7.2%). However, other n-3 PUFAs such as eicosapentaenoic acid and docosapentaenoic acid (n-3) did not reveal any significant correlations. The level of DHA in RBCs could be an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in HD patients even during a long period of follow-up.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toyama, Toyama City, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Terashima
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hamazaki
authors.forename: Miho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Itomura
authors.forename: Shin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tomita
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuroda
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.forename: Tomohito
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hamazaki
authors.forename: Hidekuni
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inadera
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality*; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids
keywords: Long-term hemodialysis; all-cause mortality; cohort study; n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids