Abstract
Objective: The benefits of fish oil fatty acids eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acids (DHA) on plasma lipid profiles have been inconsistent but may partially depend on individual Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotypes. We aimed to determine whether APOE genotype modifies the association of lipid profile characteristics with plasma EPA and DHA levels. Methods: APOE genotype was determined in this cross-sectional analysis of 2340 Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) participants. Relative plasma phospholipid EPA and DHA levels, plasma lipids, and lipoprotein subclass particle sizes and concentrations were measured. Results: Significant gene-EPA interactions were found with HDL-C, and particle concentrations of large and total HDL (pinteraction = 0.0002, 0.006, and 0.007, respectively). The above lipid targets were positively associated with EPA in the E2 groups, whereas negative trends were observed among the E4 participants. Gene-DHA interactions were noted for small LDL particle concentrations alone (pinteraction = 0.01), where a positive trend was found among E4 but not E2 or E3 participants. Conclusions: These results indicate a significant contribution of the APOE genotype to the EPA-lipid profile relationship; however, the results do not explain the differences in previous findings regarding LDL-C, triglycerides or total cholesterol. Future investigators examining the effects of EPA on HDL-C or lipoprotein characteristics may consider including APOE genotype in their analyses.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 181-187 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Atherosclerosis |
Volume | 228 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2013 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Research was supported by the following contracts, N01-HC-95159 through N01-HC-95169 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Keywords
- APOE genotype
- Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)
- Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)
- Lipoproteins
- Plasma lipids