TY - JOUR
T1 - Low levels of the omega-3 index are associated with sudden cardiac arrest and remain stable in survivors in the subacute phase
AU - Aarsetoey, Hildegunn
AU - Aarsetoey, Reidun
AU - Lindner, Thomas
AU - Staines, Harry
AU - Harris, William S.
AU - Nilsen, Dennis W.T.
N1 - Funding Information:
Means of red blood cell membrane fatty acids (FA) (given as percent of total FA) with 95% confidence interval (CI) at admission, after 8–12 h and 24–48 h. Values given for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) patients with and without an acute myocardial infarction (MI), MI-patients without SCA and healthy subjects. p values for variance of the FA in each group derived from the ANOVA analysis with time as the only within-subject factor at three levels AA arachidonic acid, EPA eicosapentaenoic acid, DPA docosapentaenoic acid, DHA docosahexaenoic acid Acknowledgments Study grants from the Regional Health Authorities in Western Norway, The Research Foundation at Stavanger University Hospital and The Laerdal Foundation for Acute Medicine are gratefully acknowledged. The FA analyses were performed by William S. Harris who is a consultant to companies with interests in omega-3 FA, including GlaxoSmithKline, Reliant Pharmaceuticals and the Monsanto Company. No pharmaceutical company supported this study financially. There are otherwise no financial or other relationships associated with the manuscript that might lead to a conflict of interest.
PY - 2011/2
Y1 - 2011/2
N2 - In previous studies, low blood levels of n-3 fatty acids (FA) have been associated with increased risk of cardiac death, and the omega-3 index (red blood cell (RBC) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) expressed as weight percentage of total FA) has recently been proposed as a new risk factor for death from coronary artery disease, especially following sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). As blood samples often haven been harvested after the event, the aim of our study was to evaluate the stability of RBC fatty acids following SCA. The total FA profile, including the omega-3 index, was measured three times during the first 48 h in 25 survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), in 15 patients with a myocardial infarction (MI) without SCA and in 5 healthy subjects. We could not demonstrate significant changes in the FA measurements in any of the groups, this also applied to the omega-6/omega-3 ratio and the arachidonic acid (AA)/EPA ratio. Furthermore, we compared the omega-3 index in 14 OHCA-patients suffering their first MI with that of 185 first-time MI-patients without SCA; mean values being 4.59% and 6.48%, respectively (p = 0.002). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, a 1% increase of the omega-3 index was associated with a 58% (95% CI: 0.25-0.76%) reduction in risk of ventricular fibrillation (VF). In conclusion, the omega-3 index remained stable after an event of SCA and predicted the risk of VF.
AB - In previous studies, low blood levels of n-3 fatty acids (FA) have been associated with increased risk of cardiac death, and the omega-3 index (red blood cell (RBC) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) expressed as weight percentage of total FA) has recently been proposed as a new risk factor for death from coronary artery disease, especially following sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). As blood samples often haven been harvested after the event, the aim of our study was to evaluate the stability of RBC fatty acids following SCA. The total FA profile, including the omega-3 index, was measured three times during the first 48 h in 25 survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), in 15 patients with a myocardial infarction (MI) without SCA and in 5 healthy subjects. We could not demonstrate significant changes in the FA measurements in any of the groups, this also applied to the omega-6/omega-3 ratio and the arachidonic acid (AA)/EPA ratio. Furthermore, we compared the omega-3 index in 14 OHCA-patients suffering their first MI with that of 185 first-time MI-patients without SCA; mean values being 4.59% and 6.48%, respectively (p = 0.002). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, a 1% increase of the omega-3 index was associated with a 58% (95% CI: 0.25-0.76%) reduction in risk of ventricular fibrillation (VF). In conclusion, the omega-3 index remained stable after an event of SCA and predicted the risk of VF.
KW - Docosahexaenoic acid
KW - Eicosapentaenoic acid
KW - Fatty acid stability
KW - Myocardial infarction
KW - Red blood cell membranes
KW - Sudden cardiac arrest
KW - The omega-3 index
KW - Ventricular fibrillation
KW - n-3 fatty acids
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U2 - 10.1007/s11745-010-3511-3
DO - 10.1007/s11745-010-3511-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 21234696
AN - SCOPUS:79952316972
VL - 46
SP - 151
EP - 161
JO - Lipids
JF - Lipids
SN - 0024-4201
IS - 2
ER -