Associations of obesity with triglycerides and C-reactive protein are attenuated in adults with high red blood cell eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids.

BACKGROUND: N-3 fatty acids are associated with favorable, and obesity with unfavorable, concentrations of chronic disease risk biomarkers. OBJECTIVE: We examined whether high eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acid intakes, measured as percentages of total red blood cell (RBC) fatty acids, modify associations of obesity with chronic disease risk biomarkers. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study of 330 Yup'ik Eskimos, generalized additive models (GAM) and linear and quadratic regression models were used to examine associations of BMI with biomarkers across RBC EPA and DHA categories. RESULTS: Median (5th-95th percentile) RBC EPA and DHA were 2.6% (0.5-5.9%) and 7.3% (3.3-8.9%), respectively. In regression models, associations of BMI with triglycerides, glucose, insulin, C-reactive protein (CRP) and leptin differed significantly by RBC EPA and DHA. The GAM confirmed regression results for triglycerides and CRP: at low RBC EPA and RBC DHA, the predicted increases in triglycerides and CRP concentrations associated with a BMI increase from 25 to 35 were 99.5±45.3 mg/dl (106%) and 137.8±71.0 mg/dl (156%), respectively, for triglycerides and 1.2±0.7 mg/l (61%) and 0.8±1.0 mg/l (35%), respectively, for CRP. At high RBC EPA and RBC DHA, these predicted increases were 13.9±8.1 mg/dl (23%) and 12.0±12.3 mg/dl (18%), respectively, for triglycerides and 0.5±0.5 mg/l (50%) and -0.5±0.6 mg/l (-34%), respectively, for CRP. CONCLUSIONS: In this population, high RBC EPA and DHA were associated with attenuated dyslipidemia and low-grade systemic inflammation among overweight and obese persons. This may help inform recommendations for n-3 fatty acid intakes in the reduction of obesity-related disease risk.

Nominal response of passage rates to fiber particle size in rats.

The influence of wheat bran particle size on the rate of passage of digesta through the rat gut was investigated. Small and large particle size wheat bran-supplemented diets were used in combination with the particulate digestion marker chromium mordanted bran (CrMB) and the soluble digestion marker cobalt-EDTA (Co EDTA). The particle size of CrMB did not significantly affect the estimates of marker residence halftime (t 1/2), mean retention time or transit time, when administered to animals fed a large particle bran diet. Utilization of different particle size bran diets and a common small particle CrMB marker tended to result in a longer t 1/2 and mean retention time in the smaller particle bran diet. Therefore, the selection of dietary particle size, but not CrMB particle size, tended to influence the estimates of t 1/2 and mean retention time. Similarly, the Co EDTA t 1/2, mean retention time and transit time tended to be longer in small particle bran-fed animals than in large particle bran-fed animals. In some comparisons the mean retention time of Co EDTA was significantly less (P less than 0.05) than that of CrMB, indicating that preferential retention of particles relative to solutes can occur in rats. Nevertheless, the overall movement of the liquid and particles largely corresponded.