Effect of plasma polyunsaturated fatty acid levels on leukocyte telomere lengths in the Singaporean Chinese population
Loading...
Citations
Altmetric:
Altmetric::
Download
Associated Records
Authors
Chang, X; Dorajoo, R; Sun, Y; Wang, L; Ong, CN; Liu, J; Khor, CC; Yuan, JM; Koh, WP; Friedlander, Y...
File Licence
Editors
Date
2020-12-01
Source Title
Nutrition Journal
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Melbourne Authors
Affiliation
Infectious Diseases
Document Type
Journal Article
Subject Code
Citation
Chang, X., Dorajoo, R., Sun, Y., Wang, L., Ong, C. N., Liu, J., Khor, C. C., Yuan, J. M., Koh, W. P., Friedlander, Y. & Heng, C. K. (2020). Effect of plasma polyunsaturated fatty acid levels on leukocyte telomere lengths in the Singaporean Chinese population. Nutrition Journal, 19 (1), pp.119-. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-020-00626-9.
Access Status
Open Access
Access URL
Open Access URL
Open Access at PMC
Linked Resource URL
NHMRC Grant Code
ARC Grant Code
Description
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Shorter telomere length (TL) has been associated with poor health behaviors, increased risks of chronic diseases and early mortality. Excessive shortening of telomere is a marker of accelerated aging and can be influenced by oxidative stress and nutritional deficiency. Plasma n6:n3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) ratio may impact cell aging. Increased dietary intake of marine n-3 PUFA is associated with reduced telomere attrition. However, the effect of plasma PUFA on leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and its interaction with genetic variants are not well established. METHODS: A nested coronary artery disease (CAD) case-control study comprising 711 cases and 638 controls was conducted within the Singapore Chinese Health Study (SCHS). Samples genotyped with the Illumina ZhongHua-8 array. Plasma n-3 and n-6 PUFA were quantified using mass spectrometry (MS). LTL was measured with quantitative PCR method. Linear regression was used to test the association between PUFA and LTL. The interaction between plasma PUFAs and genetic variants was assessed by introducing an additional term (PUFA×genetic variant) in the regression model. Analysis was carried out in cases and controls separately and subsequently meta-analyzed using the inverse-variance weighted method. We further assessed the association of PUFA and LTL with CAD risk by Cox Proportional-Hazards model and whether the effect of PUFA on CAD was mediated through LTL by using structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Higher n6:n3 ratio was significantly associated with shorter LTL (p = 0.018) and increased CAD risk (p = 0.005). These associations were mainly driven by elevated plasma total n-3 PUFAs, especially eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (p < 0.05). There was a statistically significant interaction for an intergenic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs529143 with plasma total n-3 PUFA and DHA on LTL beyond the genome-wide threshold (p < 5 × 10- 8). Mediation analysis showed that PUFA and LTL affected CAD risk independently. CONCLUSIONS: Higher plasma n6:n3 PUFA ratio, and lower EPA and DHA n-3 PUFAs were associated with shorter LTL and increased CAD risk in this Chinese population. Furthermore, genetic variants may modify the effect of PUFAs on LTL. PUFA and LTL had independent effect on CAD risk in our study population.