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Updated: Jun 8, 2026
NMR Spectroscopy as a Robust Tool for the Rapid Evaluation of the Lipid Profile of Fish Oil Supplements
Published on: May 1, 2017
A restricted cubic spline approach to assess the association between high fat fish intake and red blood cell EPA +
V Sirot1, C Dumas, L Desquilbet
1AFSSA, French Food Safety Agency, 27 avenue du Général Leclerc, F-94701 Maisons-Alfort, France. veronique.sirot@anses.fr
Background And Aims:
Fish, especially fatty fish, are the main contributor to eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) intake. EPA and DHA concentrations in red blood cells (RBC) has been proposed as a cardiovascular risk factor, with <4% and >8% associated with the lowest and greatest protection, respectively. The relationship between high fat fish (HFF) intake and RBC EPA + DHA content has been little investigated on a wide range of fish intake, and may be non-linear. We aimed to study the shape of this relationship among high seafood consumers.
Methods And Results:
Seafood consumption records and blood were collected from 384 French heavy seafood consumers and EPA and DHA were measured in RBC. A multivariate linear regression was performed using restricted cubic splines to consider potential non-linear associations. Thirty-six percent of subjects had an RBC EPA + DHA content lower than 4% and only 5% exceeded 8%. HFF consumption was significantly associated with RBC EPA + DHA content (P [overall association] = 0.021) adjusted for sex, tobacco status, study area, socioeconomic status, age, alcohol, other seafood, meat, and meat product intakes. This relationship was non-linear: for intakes higher than 200 g/wk, EPA + DHA content tended to stagnate. Tobacco status and fish contaminants were negatively associated with RBC EPA + DHA content.
Conclusion:
Because of the saturation for high intakes, and accounting for the concern with exposure to trace element contaminants, intake not exceeding 200 g should be considered.
