Dietary linolenic acid and carotid atherosclerosis: the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 77; no. 4; pp. 819 - 825
• Main Authors: DJOUSSE, Luc, FOLSOM, Aaron R, PROVINCE, Michael A, HUNT, Steven C, ELLISON, R. Curtis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD American Society for Clinical Nutrition 01.04.2003; American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; alpha-Linolenic Acid - administration & dosage; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Body Constitution; Cardiology. Vascular system; Cardiovascular disease; Carotid Artery Diseases - epidemiology; Cholesterol, Dietary - administration & dosage; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diet; Dietary Fats - administration & dosage; Dietary Fats, Unsaturated - administration & dosage; Dietary Fiber - administration & dosage; Docosahexaenoic Acids - administration & dosage; Educational Status; Eicosapentaenoic Acid - administration & dosage; Energy Intake; Fatty Acids - administration & dosage; Female; Fishes; Heart; Heart failure, cardiogenic pulmonary edema, cardiac enlargement; Humans; Linoleic Acid - administration & dosage; Logistic Models; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Nutrition Surveys; Odds Ratio; Smoking; Vegetables; United States; North America; America; Prevalence; Lung; n-6 fatty acids; Cardiovascular disease; Lipids; Supplemented diet; n-3 fatty acids; Epidemiology; Blood; Vascular disease; Blood vessel; Atherosclerosis; and Blood Institute Family Heart Study; diet; Public health; Human; National Heart; carotid artery disease; Fatty acids; Artery; Feeding; Linolenic acid; Carotid; Circulatory system; Macronutrient
• ISSN: 0002-9165; 1938-3207
• DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/77.4.819

Dietary intake of linolenic acid is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality. However, it is unknown whether linolenic acid is associated with a lower risk of carotid atherosclerosis. The objective was to examine the association between dietary linolenic acid and the presence of atherosclerotic plaques and the intima-media thickness of the carotid arteries. In a cross-sectional design, we studied 1575 white participants of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study who were free of coronary artery disease, stroke, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. High-resolution ultrasound was used to assess intima-media thickness and the presence of carotid plaques beginning 1 cm below to 1 cm above the carotid bulb. We used logistic regression and a generalized linear model for the analyses. From the lowest to the highest quartile of linolenic acid intake, the prevalence odds ratio (95% CI) of a carotid plaque was 1.0 (reference), 0.47 (0.30, 0.73), 0.38 (0.22, 0.66), and 0.49 (0.26, 0.94), respectively, in a model that adjusted for age, sex, energy intake, waist-to-hip ratio, education, field center, smoking, and the consumption of linoleic acid, saturated fat, fish, and vegetables. Linoleic acid, fish long-chain fatty acids, and fish consumption were not significantly related to carotid artery disease. Linolenic acid was inversely related to thickness of the internal and bifurcation segments of the carotid arteries but not to the common carotid artery. Higher consumption of total linolenic acid is associated with a lower prevalence odds of carotid plaques and with lesser thickness of segment-specific carotid intima-media thickness.