Blood n-3 fatty acid levels and total and cause-specific mortality from 17 prospective studies

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 2329 - 9
• Main Authors: Harris, William S., Tintle, Nathan L., Imamura, Fumiaki, Qian, Frank, Korat, Andres V. Ardisson, Marklund, Matti, Djoussé, Luc, Bassett, Julie K., Carmichael, Pierre-Hugues, Chen, Yun-Yu, Hirakawa, Yoichiro, Küpers, Leanne K., Laguzzi, Federica, Lankinen, Maria, Murphy, Rachel A., Samieri, Cécilia, Senn, Mackenzie K., Shi, Peilin, Virtanen, Jyrki K., Brouwer, Ingeborg A., Chien, Kuo-Liong, Eiriksdottir, Gudny, Forouhi, Nita G., Geleijnse, Johanna M., Giles, Graham G., Gudnason, Vilmundur, Helmer, Catherine, Hodge, Allison, Jackson, Rebecca, Khaw, Kay-Tee, Laakso, Markku, Lai, Heidi, Laurin, Danielle, Leander, Karin, Lindsay, Joan, Micha, Renata, Mursu, Jaako, Ninomiya, Toshiharu, Post, Wendy, Psaty, Bruce M., Risérus, Ulf, Robinson, Jennifer G., Shadyab, Aladdin H., Snetselaar, Linda, Sala-Vila, Aleix, Sun, Yangbo, Steffen, Lyn M., Tsai, Michael Y., Wareham, Nicholas J., Wood, Alexis C., Wu, Jason H. Y., Hu, Frank, Sun, Qi, Siscovick, David S., Lemaitre, Rozenn N., Mozaffarian, Dariush
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 22.04.2021; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 49/47; 692/499; 692/53/2423; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Blood; Carbon; Cardiovascular diseases; Cause of Death; Death; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids, Omega-3 - blood; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Life Sciences; Linolenic acid; Male; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Middle Aged; Mortality; Mortality, Premature; multidisciplinary; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Prospective Studies; Protective Factors; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Predictive markers; Risk factors
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22370-2

The health effects of omega-3 fatty acids have been controversial. Here we report the results of a de novo pooled analysis conducted with data from 17 prospective cohort studies examining the associations between blood omega-3 fatty acid levels and risk for all-cause mortality. Over a median of 16 years of follow-up, 15,720 deaths occurred among 42,466 individuals. We found that, after multivariable adjustment for relevant risk factors, risk for death from all causes was significantly lower (by 15–18%, at least p  < 0.003) in the highest vs the lowest quintile for circulating long chain (20–22 carbon) omega-3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic, docosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids). Similar relationships were seen for death from cardiovascular disease, cancer and other causes. No associations were seen with the 18-carbon omega-3, alpha-linolenic acid. These findings suggest that higher circulating levels of marine n-3 PUFA are associated with a lower risk of premature death. Associations between of omega-3 fatty acids and mortality are not clear. Here the authors report that, based on a pooled analysis of 17 prospective cohort studies, higher blood omega-3 fatty acid levels correlate with lower risk of all-cause mortality.