Adipose tissue arachidonic acid content is associated with the risk of myocardial infarction: A Danish case-cohort study

ObjectiveThe primary aim of the study was to evaluate the association between adipose tissue arachidonic acid (AA) content and the risk of myocardial infarction (MI). The secondary aim was to assess the correlation between adipose tissue AA and dietary intake of AA and linoleic acid (LA).MethodsWe conducted a case-cohort study nested within the Danish prospective Diet, Cancer and Health (DCH) study. After appropriate exclusions, the study included 2134 incident MI cases. Gluteal adipose tissue biopsies were collected at recruitment, and the fatty acid composition was determined by gas chromatography. A weighted Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the association between adipose tissue AA content and the risk of MI.ResultsAfter adjusting for confounders we found a positive association between adipose tissue AA content and the risk of MI. Hazard ratios (HR) of MI relative to the lowest quintile of adipose tissue AA content, increased across quintiles; second quintile (HR 1.19 95%CI: 0.97-1.45), third (HR 1.24 95%CI: 1.02-1.52), fourth (HR 1.28 95%CI: 1.03-1.60), and fifth quintile (HR 1.39 95%CI: 1.10-1.77). Adipose tissue AA levels were not correlated with dietary intake of AA (r = 0.03, 95%CI: −0.01, 0.06) and weakly negatively correlated with dietary intake of LA (r = −0.12, 95%CI: −0.15, −0.08).ConclusionsThe adipose tissue content of AA was positively associated with the risk of MI but did not correlate with dietary intake of neither AA nor LA.

► We conducted a prospective case-cohort study including 2134 cases. ► Adipose tissue arachidonic acid was associated with the risk of myocardial infarction. ► Potential causal explanations are proposed.