Serum Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Risk of Incident Type 2 Diabetes in Men: The Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study

Abstract

OBJECTIVEThe relationship between fish or omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and type 2 diabetes is inconclusive. Even contaminants in fish, such as mercury, may modify the effects. We investigated the associations between serum omega-3 PUFAs eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a-linolenic acid (ALA), hair mercury, and risk of incident type 2 diabetes in middle-aged and older Finnish men. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSA total of 2,212 men from the prospective, population-based Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk Factor study, aged 42-60 years and free of type 2 diabetes at baseline in 1984-1989, were investigated. Serum PUFA and hair mercury were used as biomarkers for exposure. Dietary intakes were assessed with 4-day food recording. Type 2 diabetes was assessed by self-administered questionnaires and fasting and 2-h oral glucose tolerance test blood glucose measurement at reexamination rounds 4, 11, and 20 years after the baseline and by record linkage to hospital discharge registry and reimbursement register on diabetes medication expenses. Cox proportional hazards models were used to analyze associations. RESULTSDuring the average follow-up of 19.3 years, 422 men developed type 2 diabetes. Men in the highest versus the lowest serum EPA + DPA + DHA quartile had 33% lower multivariate-adjusted risk for type 2 diabetes (95% CI 13-49; P trend 0.01). No statistically significant associations were observed with serum or dietary ALA, dietary fish or EPA + DHA, or hair mercury. CONCLUSIONSSerum long-chain omega-3 PUFA concentration, an objective biomarker for fish intake, was associated with long-term lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

Fish consumption is inversely associated with type 2 diabetes in Manitoba First Nations communities

“…Also, we were able to control our results for a number of risk factors for T2D such as age, gender, BMI, smoking, physical activity, energy intake, and education level. Several epidemiological studies reported a positive association between n-3 FAs serum levels and T2D prevalence (Virtanen et al 2014). We observed the same positive relationship between dietary n-3 FAs intake and T2D prevalence which is useful in developing a dietary advisory for fish consumption.…”

Association between direct measurement of active serum calcium and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: A prospective study

“…In subjects with T2DM there are many factors potentially modifying calcium fractions. In particular, high levels of circulating free fatty acids are known to alter calcium-albumin binding (29) and are also associated with incident risk of T2DM (30). In this situation total or albumin-corrected estimation of serum calcium can be biased (11) (Supplemental Figure S2).…”

Longitudinal associations of serum fatty acid composition with type 2 diabetes risk and markers of insulin secretion and sensitivity in the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study

“…Only few prospective studies are available examining associations of biomarkers of dietary fat quality with type 2 diabetes incidence. These studies suggest that various fatty acids in erythrocytes, serum and plasma as well as estimated SCD-1, D5D and D6D activities predict incidence of type 2 diabetes [7,[15][16][17][18][19][20]. However, very few such studies have evaluated the two main pathogenic mechanisms of type 2 diabetes, i.e., decreased insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion, concurrently with its incidence [19].…”