title: Serum Phospholipid Docosahexaenoic Acid Is Inversely Associated with Arterial Stiffness in Metabolically Healthy Men.
abstract: We hypothesized that lower proportion of serum phospholipid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is inversely associated with increased cardiovascular risk and vascular function in metabolically healthy men. To elucidate it, we first compared serum phospholipid free fatty acid (FA) compositions and cardiovascular risk parameters between healthy men (n = 499) and male patients with coronary artery disease (CAD, n = 111) (30-69 years) without metabolic syndrome, and then further-analyzed the association of serum phospholipid DHA composition with arterial stiffness expressed by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV) in metabolically healthy men. Basic parameters, lipid profiles, fasting glycemic status, adiponectin, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and LDL particle size, and serum phospholipid FA compositions were significantly different between the two subject groups. Serum phospholipid DHA was highly correlated with most of long-chain FAs. Metabolically healthy men were subdivided into tertile groups according to serum phospholipid DHA proportion: lower (< 2.061%), middle (2.061%-3.235%) and higher (> 3.235%). Fasting glucose, insulin resistance, hs-CRP and ba-PWVs were significantly higher and adiponectin and LDL particle size were significantly lower in the lower-DHA group than the higher-DHA group after adjusted for confounding factors. In metabolically healthy men, multiple stepwise regression analysis revealed that serum phospholipid DHA mainly contributed to arterial stiffness (β'-coefficients = -0.127, p = 0.006) together with age, systolic blood pressure, triglyceride (r = 0.548, p = 0.023). Lower proportion of serum phospholipid DHA was associated with increased cardiovascular risk and arterial stiffness in metabolically healthy men. It suggests that maintaining higher proportion of serum phospholipid DHA may be beneficial for reducing cardiovascular risk including arterial stiffness in metabolically healthy men.
authors.affiliation: Korea Ginseng Corporation Research Institute, Korea Ginseng Corporation, Daejeon 34337, Korea.; Human Life Research Center, Dong-A University, Busan 49201, Korea.
authors.forename: Mi-Hyang
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Korea .
authors.forename: Nayeon
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Brain Busan 21, Dong-A University, Busan 49201, Korea .
authors.forename: So Ra
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Human Life Research Center, Dong-A University, Busan 49201, Korea.; Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Brain Busan 21, Dong-A University, Busan 49201, Korea.
authors.forename: Oh Yoen
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9262-3309
authors.initials: OY
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Arterial stiffness; Cardiovascular risk; Docosahexaenoic acid; Metabolically healthy; Serum phospholipid