Journal
ATHEROSCLEROSIS
Volume 233, Issue 2, Pages 394-402Publisher
ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2013.12.053
Keywords
Serum fatty acids; Lipoprotein profile; Twins; Genetic pleiotropy; Environmental factors
Funding
- Basque Government's Department of Education, Universities and Research (DEUI)
- Juho Vainio Foundation
- Yrjo Jahnsson Foundation
- Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation
- Biomedicum Helsinki Foundation
- National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [AA08315, AA12502, AA00145, AA09203]
- Academy of Finland [205585, 141054, 266592, 137870]
- Sigrid Juselius Foundation
- Finnish Funding Agency for Technology - TEKES
- Strategic Research Funding from the University of Oulu
- Doctoral Programs of Public Health
- Medical Research Council [MC_UU_12013/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- MRC [MC_UU_12013/1] Funding Source: UKRI
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objective: Little is known about the associations of serum fatty acids with lipoprotein profile and the underlying genetic and environmental etiology of these relationships. We aimed to analyze the phenotypic association of serum n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated (PUFAs), monounsaturated (MUFAs) and saturated (SFAs) fatty acids (relative proportion to total fatty acids) with lipids and lipoproteins, and to quantify common genetic and environmental factors determining their covariation. Methods: Two cohorts of healthy Finnish twins were assessed in young adulthood. Data were available for 1269 individual twins including 561 complete pairs. Serum metabolites were measured by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Bivariate quantitative genetic models were used to decompose the phenotypic covariance between the pairs of traits into genetic and environmental components. Results: Among the strongest correlations observed, serum total n-6 PUFAs and linoleic acid were inversely (max. r = -0.65) and MUFAs positively (max. r = 0.63) correlated with triglycerides and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) particle concentration, particularly with large VLDL (for n-6 PUFAs) and medium VLDL (for MUFAs). Genetic factors significantly contributed to their covariance with bivariate heritability estimates ranging from 44% to 56% for n-6 PUFAs and 58% to 66% for MUFAs. Genetic correlations with lipid traits were moderate to high (max. r(A) = -0.59 and 0.70 for n-6 PUFAs and MUFAs, respectively). Statistically significant, but substantially weaker phenotypic correlations of total n-3 PUFAs, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and SFAs with lipoprotein profile were not decomposed into their genetic and environmental components. Conclusion: Shared genetic factors are important in explaining why higher concentrations of serum n-6 PUFAs and lower concentrations of serum MUFAs strongly associate with lower triglyceride and VLDL particle concentrations. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available