Associations of Plasma Phospholipid Omega-6 and Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Levels and MRI Measures of Cardiovascular Structure and Function: The Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Table 3

(a)Relation between plasma phospholipid omega-3 fatty acid levels and measures of cardiac structure and function.^‡,* (b) Relation between plasma phospholipid omega-3 fatty acid levels and measures of cardiac structure and function.^‡,*

(a)

Measure	Plasma EPA (n)^§				Plasma DHA (n)^§
	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	P	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	P
	n = 305	n = 298	n = 334	n = 337	trend	n = 292	n = 309	n = 327	n = 346	trend
Aortic distensibility, 10(−3) mmHg(−1)	1.22	1.26	1.23	1.26	0.26	1.23	1.22	1.26	1.26	0.17
LV mass, grams	143.14	143.61	146.48	145.38	0.14	144.14	142.19	145.45	147.19	0.07
LV mass : volume	0.12	0.12	0.14	0.12	0.31	0.12	0.12	0.13	0.14	0.21
Ejection fraction, %	67.94	68.50	68.22	68.68	0.26	68.13	68.82	68.35	68.53	0.29
Stroke volume, mL	84.52	85.93	85.15	87.04	0.12	84.67	85.56	85.47	86.55	0.27

^‡Multivariate linear regression analysis with adjustment for age, gender, race/ethnicity, BMI, current smoking status, education level, site, and total:HDL cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, and total energy intake.
*EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid; DHA, docosahexaenoic acid; ALA, alpha-linolenic acid; LV, left ventricular.
^§Sample sizes are for each plasma phospholipid quartile associated with LV mass, LV mass/volume ratio, ejection fraction, and stroke volume.
Sample sizes for each plasma phospholipid quartile associated with aortic distensibility varied slightly due to fewer available aortic distensibility
measures and were as follows for EPA, Q1 = 225, Q2 = 212, Q3 = 245, Q4 = 232 and for DHA, QQ = 213, Q2 = 239, Q3 = 220, Q4 = 242.

(b)

Measure	Plasma ALA (n)^§
	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	P
	n = 345	n = 318	n = 308	n = 303	Trend
Aortic distensibility, 10(−3) mmHg(−1)	1.23	1.26	1.21	1.24	0.59
LV mass, grams	143.41	144.87	145.19	144.67	0.48
LV mass : volume	0.13	0.13	0.11	0.12	0.40
Ejection fraction, %	68.18	68.53	68.20	68.07	0.73
Stroke volume, mL	84.20	85.40	87.46	85.37	0.18

^‡Multivariate linear regression analysis with adjustment for age, gender, race/ethnicity, BMI, current smoking status, education level, site, and total:HDL cholesterol, systolicblood pressure, and total energy intake.
*ALA, alpha-linolenic acid; LV, left ventricular.
^§Sample sizes are for each plasma phospholipid quartile associated with LV mass, LV mass/volume ratio, ejection fraction, and stroke volume. Sample sizes for each ALA quartile associated with aortic distensibility varied slightly due to fewer available aortic distensibility measures and were as follows: Q1 = 258, Q2 = 226, Q3 = 199, Q4 = 231.