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])

Cardioprotective effects of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC n-3 PUFA) and fish consumption have been observed. However, data on the specific associations of these dietary factors with inflammation and endothelial activation are sparse. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 5,677 men and women from the MESA cohort including African Americans, Caucasians, Chinese and Hispanics, aged 45-84 years, and free of clinical cardiovascular disease. Dietary information was collected by self-administered food frequency questionnaire. Multivariable linear regression analyses were used to examine relations between intake of LC n-3 PUFAs, non-fried fish and fried fish and biomarkers of inflammation and endothelial activation. LC n-3 PUFA intakes were inversely associated with plasma concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6, P=0.01) and matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3, P=0.03) independent of age, body mass index, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and dietary variables. Non-fried fish consumption was found inversely related to C-reactive protein (CRP, P=0.045) and IL-6 (P<0.01); and fried fish was observed being inversely related to soluble intercellular adhesion molecules-1 (sICAM-1) (P