Fatty Acid Composition of Serum Lipids in Men With Myocardial Infarction

Abstract

Studies of the fatty acid composition in cholesterol esters, phospholipids and triglycerides in serum have been made in 73 men with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and in 32 healthy men of comparable age. Of the patients 36 had previously had a myocardial infarction or a history of angina pectoris, while for the other 37 the present attack was their first symptom of coronary heart disease (CHD). Significant differences in fatty acid composition were observed between the two groups of patients with higher percentages of linoleic acid in patients with old CHD. Since linoleic acid proportions in serum to a large extent reflect dietary habits, it is thought that patients with an old CHD have been more assiduous in following diet recommendations given to the whole population, advocating “cholesterol‐lowering diets”, than subjects with no history of cardiac disease. It is concluded that data concerning fatty acid composition in patients with a history of old CHD cannot be used to evaluate dietary habits prior to the manifestation of CHD. It was demonstrated that in patients with an AMI as the first manifestation of CHD linoleic acid percentages were lower than in controls. The finding indicates dietary habits in the patients characterized by a high intake of saturated and monosaturated fats, low intake of essential fatty acids, and possibly a high intake of simple sugars. Differences were also observed in pentaenoic and hexaenoic acids, with higher values in the patient group. This finding does not support the assumption that pentaenoic and hexaenoic acids are significant in the prevention of CHD. In a smaller number of patients, admitted to the hospital within 6 hours after the initial attack of pain, studies were made on admission and on the following morning. These studies gave no indication of important changes in fatty acid composition occurring during the first 24 hours of the disease; and since all studies reported here were performed within 24 hours after onset of the attack, the results are probably representative of preinfarction fatty acid composition.

Cross‐Sectional Associations of Food Consumption with Plasma Fatty Acid Composition and Estimated Desaturase Activities in Finnish Children

“…Plasma fatty acid (FA) composition has been found to be influenced by several factors including diet, physical activity, overweight, genetic factors, age, sex and endogenous metabolism of FA [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Also metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases have been observed to affect the FA composition in plasma and adipose tissue [8][9][10][11][12].…”

Circulating Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Levels in Coronary Heart Disease: Pooled Analysis of 36 Observational Studies

“…In Table 2 , 1148 CHD patients and 1156 healthy controls were enrolled in the study of compared n -3 PUFA levels. These participants were from 11 countries and ranged in age from 18 to 62.7 years, with five studies analyzing PUFA in erythrocytes [ 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ], two studies in plasma [ 54 , 55 ], four studies in serum [ 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ], one study in whole blood [ 60 ], and four studies for tissue or adipose tissue, respectively [ 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ].…”

Cholesteryl esters and ACAT

“…Both ACATs preferentially use oleic acid (18:1) and palmitic acid (16:0) as fatty acid substrates 34, 64, whereas, LCAT preferentially uses linoleic acid 65. Linoleic acid percentages were lower in patients with an acute MI as the first manifestation of coronary heart disease than in controls 66 and atherosclerotic patients with low concentrations of linoleic acid in their plasma‐CEs run an increased risk of sudden death from MI or cerebrovascular accidents 67. Patients suffering from coronary‐artery disease had higher proportion of oleic acid in the aortic tissue compared to controls 68.…”