TY - JOUR
T1 - Significant inverse association of marine n-3 fatty acids with plasma fibrinogen levels in Japanese in Japan but not in whites or Japanese Americans
AU - Hassen, L. J.
AU - Ueshima, H.
AU - Curb, J. D.
AU - Choo, J.
AU - Lee, S.
AU - Masaki, K.
AU - Kadowaki, T.
AU - Shin, C.
AU - Evans, R. W.
AU - Seto, T. B.
AU - Fujiyoshi, A.
AU - Willcox, B. J.
AU - Sutton-Tyrrell, K.
AU - Kadota, A.
AU - El-Saed, A.
AU - Miura, K.
AU - Kuller, L. H.
AU - Sekikawa, A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by Grants R01 HL68200 and HL071561 from the National Institutes of Health, B 16790335 and A 13307016 from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
PY - 2012/3
Y1 - 2012/3
N2 - Background/Objectives: Numerous studies reported beneficial effects of marine n-3 fatty acids (n-3 FAs) on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors. However, the association of marine n-3 FAs with plasma fibrinogen, a risk factor for CVD, remains uncertain. Subjects/Methods: In a population-based, cross-sectional study of 795 men aged 40-49 without CVD (262 whites in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, 302 Japanese in Kusatsu, Japan and 229 Japanese Americans in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA), we examined the association of marine n-3 FAs with plasma fibrinogen. Serum FAs were measured by capillary gas-liquid chromatography. Marine n-3 FAs were defined as the sum of docosahexaenoic, eicosapentaenoic and docosapentaenoic acids. Plasma fibrinogen was measured by an automated clot-rate assay. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to assess the association. Results: White, Japanese and Japanese-American men had mean marine n-3 FAs levels of 3.47%, 8.78% and 4.46%, respectively. Japanese men had a significant inverse association of marine n-3 FAs with fibrinogen (standardized regression coefficient of -0.11, P=0.049), after adjusting for age, body-mass index and current smoking. The significant inverse association remained after further adjusting for diabetes, C-reactive protein, triglycerides and other variables. White or Japanese-American men did not show a significant association. Conclusions: We observed the significant inverse association of marine n-3 FAs with fibrinogen in Japanese, but not in whites or Japanese Americans. The observation suggests that marine n-3 FAs at very high levels, as seen in the Japanese, may decrease plasma fibrinogen levels.
AB - Background/Objectives: Numerous studies reported beneficial effects of marine n-3 fatty acids (n-3 FAs) on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors. However, the association of marine n-3 FAs with plasma fibrinogen, a risk factor for CVD, remains uncertain. Subjects/Methods: In a population-based, cross-sectional study of 795 men aged 40-49 without CVD (262 whites in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, 302 Japanese in Kusatsu, Japan and 229 Japanese Americans in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA), we examined the association of marine n-3 FAs with plasma fibrinogen. Serum FAs were measured by capillary gas-liquid chromatography. Marine n-3 FAs were defined as the sum of docosahexaenoic, eicosapentaenoic and docosapentaenoic acids. Plasma fibrinogen was measured by an automated clot-rate assay. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to assess the association. Results: White, Japanese and Japanese-American men had mean marine n-3 FAs levels of 3.47%, 8.78% and 4.46%, respectively. Japanese men had a significant inverse association of marine n-3 FAs with fibrinogen (standardized regression coefficient of -0.11, P=0.049), after adjusting for age, body-mass index and current smoking. The significant inverse association remained after further adjusting for diabetes, C-reactive protein, triglycerides and other variables. White or Japanese-American men did not show a significant association. Conclusions: We observed the significant inverse association of marine n-3 FAs with fibrinogen in Japanese, but not in whites or Japanese Americans. The observation suggests that marine n-3 FAs at very high levels, as seen in the Japanese, may decrease plasma fibrinogen levels.
KW - Japanese
KW - epidemiology
KW - fibrinogen
KW - marine n-3 fatty acids
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84858079248&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/ejcn.2011.155
DO - 10.1038/ejcn.2011.155
M3 - Article
C2 - 21897424
AN - SCOPUS:84858079248
VL - 66
SP - 329
EP - 335
JO - European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
JF - European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
SN - 0954-3007
IS - 3
ER -