TITLE:
Fatty Acids and Associated Cardiovascular Risk
AUTHORS:
Caroline Le Goff, Jean-François Kaux, Ludovic Leroy, Joël Pincemail, Jean-Paul Chapelle, Etienne Cavalier
KEYWORDS:
Fatty Acids; Acute Myocardial Infarction; Gas Chromatography
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.4 No.9A,
September
20,
2013
ABSTRACT: Introduction: A fatty acid (FA) is a
carboxylic acid with a long aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or
unsaturated. Recently, the role of FA and particularly omega-3 and -6 has
emerged as cardiovascular risk factor in the literature. The aim of our study
was to establish reference values for these FA and to compare them with data
obtained in a population of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. Materials and
methods: Hundred thirty five healthy subjects (59.38 ± 27.12 yo, 75 men) were selected as reference population. We also
evaluated FA in thirty three patients (55 ± 9 yo, 23 men) admitted in the
Emergency Department of our Institution for AMI. The fasting whole blood was
drawn in vacutainer containing EDTA. Before analysis, samples were washed and
transmethylated. We performed the quantification of different FA by gas
chromatography associated with flame ionization detector (GCFID). Results: We obtained results
in control healthy patients to be used as reference values. In the AMI group, levels of omega-6 were significantly
higher (p 0.05) for
C18:2n6 and C18:3n6 than the reference population and omega-3 values were
significantly lower (p 0.01) compared to reference value for C22:6n3. The
omega-3 index was lower and the ratio omega-6/omega-3 was higher in AMI group
compared to reference values. Conclusions: We have established reference value for FA and
have compared these values with the results obtained in AMI population. FA
determination is a new tool we are able to use and to process in our laboratory
which can help the clinician to screen patients with the highest cardiovascular
risks because of the implication of FA in the etiopathogeny of atherosclerosis.