Intake of milk fat, reflected in adipose tissue fatty acids and risk of myocardial infarction: a case-control study

Objective: To study the association between content of fatty acids from milk fat (14: 0, 15: 0 and 17: 0) in adipose tissue and risk of a first myocardial infarction (MI). Design and subjects: A case-control study with 99 patients and 98 population controls both men and postmenopausal women, age 45-75 year. Adipose tissue fatty acids were determined by gas-liquid chromatography. Results: The content of 14: 0, 14: 1, 15: 0, 17: 0 and 17: 1 were all significantly higher in adipose tissue of controls than of the patients. Age and sex adjusted odds ratios (OR) for MI were significantly reduced with increasing quartiles of 14: 0, 14: 1, 15: 0 and 17: 1 in adipose tissue, but except for 15: 0 (OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.13-0.99), the trend was no longer significant after further adjustment for waist-to-hip ratio, smoking and family history for coronary heart disease. Correlations between 14: 0 and 15: 0 in adipose tissue, and waist-to-hip ratio were significantly negative (r = -0.22 for both, P < 0.01). Conclusion: Our study suggests that intake of dairy fat or some other component of dairy products, as reflected by C15:0 as marker in adipose tissue, may protect persons at increased risk from having a first MI, and that the causal effects may rely on other factors than serum cholesterol.