Associations of Dietary Long-Chain n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Fish With Biomarkers of Inflammation and Endothelial Activation (from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis [MESA])

The cardioprotective effects of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and fish consumption have been observed. However, data on the specific associations of these dietary factors with inflammation and endothelial activation are sparse. A cross-sectional study was conducted of 5,677 men and women from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) cohort, including African Americans, Caucasians, Chinese, and Hispanics aged 45 to 84 years and free of clinical cardiovascular disease. Dietary information was collected using a self-administered food frequency questionnaire. Multivariate linear regression analyses were used to examine relations between the intake of long-chain n-3 PUFAs, nonfried fish, and fried fish and biomarkers of inflammation and endothelial activation. Long-chain n-3 PUFA intake was inversely associated with plasma concentrations of interleukin-6 (p = 0.01) and matrix metalloproteinase-3 (p = 0.03) independent of age, body mass index, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, and dietary variables. Nonfried fish consumption was inversely related to C-reactive protein (p = 0.045) and interieukin-6 (p <0.01), and fried fish consumption was inversely related to soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (p <0.01) but was not associated with other biomarkers after adjustment for potential confounders. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that the dietary intake of long-chain n-3 PUFAs and fish is inversely associated with concentrations of some biomarkers, reflecting lower levels of inflammation and endothelial activation. These results may partially explain the cardioprotective effects of fish consumption. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. (Am J Cardiol 2009;103:1238-1243)