Fasting Whole Blood as a Biomarker of Essential Fatty Acid Intake in Epidemiologic Studies: Comparison with Adipose Tissue and Plasma
Open accessAbstract
Biomarkers could provide a more accurate measure of long-term intake than questionnaires. Adipose tissue is considered the best indicator of long-term essential fatty acid intake, but other tissues may prove equally valid. The authors evaluated the ability of fasting whole blood, relative to fasting plasma and adipose tissue, to reflect fatty acid intake. Costa Rican men (n = 99) and women (n = 101) completed a 135-item food frequency questionnaire and provided adipose tissue and blood samples from 1999 to 2001. Fatty acids were identified by using capillary gas chromatography. Correlation coefficients adjusted for age, sex, and body mass index were calculated. Diet-tissue correlation coefficients for alpha-linolenic acid and linoleic acid, respectively, were 0.38 and 0.43 in whole blood, 0.51 and 0.52 in adipose tissue, and 0.39 and 0.41 in plasma. High correlations were observed between whole-blood alpha-linolenic and linoleic acid and adipose tissue (r = 0.59 and r = 0.67) and plasma (r = 0.96 and r = 0.88), respectively. Results show that fasting whole blood is a suitable biomarker of long-term essential fatty acid intake, and its performance is comparable to that of fasting plasma. Thus, fasting whole blood could be the sample of choice in epidemiologic studies because of its ability to predict intake, its accessibility, and minimum sample processing.
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The best compartment for assessing ALA has been unclear, with possible advantages to adipose tissue but relatively little prior evaluation of other compartments.
“The best compartment for assessing ALA has also been unclear, with possible advantages to adipose tissue16 but relatively little prior evaluation of other compartments.”
From ω-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Biomarkers and Coronary Heart Disease: Pooling Project of 19 Cohort Studies (2016) · cites this paper as [16]
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- Authors
- Baylin, A., Kim, M. K., Donovan-Palmer, A., Siles, X., Dougherty, L., Tocco, P., & Campos, H.
- Affiliations
- Hanyang University (KR)
- Harvard University (US)
- Universidad de Costa Rica (CR)
- Venue
- American Journal of Epidemiology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2005-08-15
- Volume
- 162
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 373-381
- ISSN
- 0002-9262 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-6256
- OpenAlex
- W2095898199
- Cited by
- 264
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 24
- FWCI
- 10.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- American Journal of Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Americanae (AECID Library) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Investigative News in Education (Universidad de Costa Rica) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r03ca092761-02)
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL 60692, R01HL060692)
- National Cancer Institute (CA92761)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Fatty Acid Research and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biochemistry › Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis
- Keywords
- dietary biomarkers, adipose tissue, plasma fatty acids, alpha-linolenic acid, linoleic acid, long-term dietary intake
- MeSH terms
- Adipose Tissue, Chromatography, Gas, Costa Rica, Dietary Fats, Fasting, Fatty Acids, Essential, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Biomarkers, Diet Records
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