Obesity-Associated Dyslipidemia Is Moderated by Habitual Intake of Marine-Derived n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in...

Obesity leads to insulin resistance, altered lipoprotein metabolism, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular disease. The relationship between long-term intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) and prevention of cardiometabolic disease remains unresolved.

The aim of this study was to explore direct and indirect pathways between adiposity and dyslipidemia, and the degree to which n-3 PUFAs moderate adiposity-induced dyslipidemia in a population with highly variable n-3 PUFA intake from marine foods.

In total, 571 Yup'ik Alaska Native adults (18-87 y) were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The red blood cell (RBC) nitrogen isotope ratio (¹⁵N/¹⁴N, or NIR) was used as a validated objective measure of n-3 PUFA intake. EPA and DHA were measured in RBCs. Insulin sensitivity and resistance were estimated by the HOMA2 method. Mediation analysis was conducted to evaluate the contribution of the indirect causal path between adiposity and dyslipidemia mediated through insulin resistance. Moderation analysis was used to assess the influence of dietary n-3 PUFAs on the direct and indirect paths between adiposity and dyslipidemia. Outcomes of primary interest included plasma total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), non-HDL-C, and triglycerides (TG).

In this Yup'ik study population, we found that up to 21.6% of the total effects of adiposity on plasma TG, HDL-C, and non-HDL-C are mediated through measures of insulin resistance or sensitivity. Moreover, RBC DHA and EPA moderated the positive association between waist circumference (WC) and TC or non-HDL-C, whereas only DHA moderated the positive association between WC and TG. However, the indirect path between WC and plasma lipids was not significantly moderated by dietary n-3 PUFAs.

Intake of n-3 PUFAs may independently reduce dyslipidemia through the direct path resulting from excess adiposity in Yup'ik adults. NIR moderation effects suggest that additional nutrients contained in n-3 PUFA-rich foods may also reduce dyslipidemia.