Background
Methods
Study participants
Clinical measurements
Food frequency and health questionnaires
Plasma fatty acid analysis
Statistical analysis
Results
Study participant characteristics
Caucasian | East Asian | South Asian | |
---|---|---|---|
Number (M/F) | 461 (132/329) | 362 (95/267) | 104 (41/63) |
Age (yrs) | 23.1 ± 0.1a | 22.1 ± 0.1b | 22.3 ± 0.2b |
BMI (kg/m2) | 22.7 ± 0.1a | 21.6 ± 0.1b | 22.8 ± 0.3a |
Total fat (g/d) | 68.4 ± 1.2a | 61.6 ± 1.3b | 60.7 ± 2.7b |
Log insulin (pmol/L) | 1.57 ± 0.01a | 1.59 ± 0.01a | 1.71 ± 0.02b |
Glucose (mmol/L) | 4.72 ± 0.02a | 4.78 ± 0.02a | 4.90 ± 0.03b |
HOMA-IR | 0.78 ± 0.02a | 0.82 ± 0.02a | 1.08 ± 0.05b |
Mean concentration (μg/mL) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Caucasian | East Asian | South Asian | |
(n = 461) | (n = 362) | (n = 104) | |
Saturated fatty acids
| |||
14:0 | 16.31 ± 0.48a | 13.67 ± 0.54b | 15.26 ± 1.00a,b |
15:0 | 4.59 ± 0.09a | 3.85 ± 0.11b | 4.21 ± 0.20a |
16:0 | 422.74 ± 6.38a,b | 420.03 ± 7.20a | 400.01 ± 13.43b |
18:0 | 127.38 ± 1.61a | 135.49 ± 1.82b | 130.87 ± 3.39a,b |
Monounsaturated fatty acids
| |||
16:1c9 | 37.86 ± 0.96a | 34.71 ± 1.08a | 29.91 ± 2.02b |
18:1t6-8 | 2.08 ± 0.08a | 1.96 ± 0.08a | 2.03 ± 0.16a |
18:1t9 | 4.34 ± 0.13a | 4.06 ± 0.15a | 4.24 ± 0.28a |
18:1t10 | 4.37 ± 0.14a | 4.12 ± 0.16a | 4.08 ± 0.30a |
18:1t11 | 4.52 ± 0.12a | 4.06 ± 0.13b | 4.40 ± 0.24a |
18:1c9 | 365.19 ± 7.55a | 376.02 ± 8.52a | 341.75 ± 15.89b |
18:1c11 | 32.68 ± 1.03a | 35.55 ± 1.16b | 29.22 ± 2.17c |
18:1c12 | 4.50 ± 0.13a | 4.28 ± 0.15a | 3.76 ± 0.28a |
Polyunsaturated fatty acids
| |||
18:2c9t12 | 4.62 ± 0.18a | 4.04 ± 0.20b | 4.10 ± 0.37a,b |
18:2t9c12 | 2.58 ± 0.05a | 2.62 ± 0.06a | 2.57 ± 0.11a |
18:2n6 | 592.14 ± 7.58a | 645.99 ± 8.56b | 606.51 ± 15.97a |
18:3n6 | 6.55 ± 0.18a | 5.38 ± 0.20b | 7.94 ± 0.38c |
18:3n3 | 13.52 ± 0.30a | 14.99 ± 0.34b | 15.54 ± 0.64b |
18:2c9t11 | 4.70 ± 0.10a | 3.86 ± 0.11b | 4.28 ± 0.20b |
20:2n6 | 4.09 ± 0.08a | 4.26 ± 0.09b | 3.68 ± 0.17c |
20:3n6 | 26.01 ± 0.49a | 20.19 ± 0.56b | 24.06 ± 1.04a |
20:4n6 | 117.11 ± 1.72a | 111.56 ± 1.94b | 125.62 ± 3.61a |
20:5n3 | 10.77 ± 0.39a | 12.63 ± 0.44b | 10.89 ± 0.82a,b |
22:5n3 | 6.72 ± 0.14a | 7.28 ± 0.16b | 7.23 ± 0.30a,b |
22:6n3 | 27.54 ± 0.57a | 33.86 ± 0.64b | 25.51 ± 1.20a |
Associations between fatty acids and markers of insulin resistance
Saturated fatty acids (SFA)
HOMA-IR | Insulin (log) | Glucose | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
r2 | P-value | r2 | P-value | r2 | P-value | |
14:0 | 0.17 | < 0.0001 | 0.19 | 0.0001 | 0.08 | 0.0390 |
15:0 | 0.16 | 0.0022 | 0.17 | 0.0073 | 0.08 | 0.0376 |
16:0 | 0.15 | 0.0089 | 0.17 | 0.0780 | 0.08 | 0.0214 |
16:1c9 | 0.15 | 0.1443 | 0.16 | 0.5274 | 0.07 | 0.3644 |
18:0 | 0.15 | 0.0216 | 0.16 | 0.1018 | 0.10 | 0.0007 |
18:1t6-8 | 0.16 | 0.0015 | 0.17 | 0.0437 | 0.07 | 0.4216 |
18:1t9 | 0.15 | 0.0334 | 0.16 | 0.1003 | 0.07 | 0.3634 |
18:1t10 | 0.16 | 0.0041 | 0.17 | 0.0089 | 0.08 | 0.1178 |
18:1t11 | 0.16 | 0.0006 | 0.18 | 0.0029 | 0.09 | 0.0136 |
18:1c9 | 0.15 | 0.0122 | 0.16 | 0.0848 | 0.09 | 0.0017 |
18:1c11 | 0.14 | 0.2349 | 0.16 | 0.6690 | 0.08 | 0.0314 |
18:1c12 | 0.16 | 0.0038 | 0.17 | 0.0118 | 0.07 | 0.4610 |
18:2c9t12 | 0.15 | 0.0405 | 0.17 | 0.0690 | 0.07 | 0.3508 |
18:2t9c12 | 0.15 | 0.0394 | 0.16 | 0.1262 | 0.15 | 0.0754 |
18:2n6 | 0.15 | 0.1586 | 0.16 | 0.4673 | 0.10 | 0.0005 |
18:3n6 | 0.14 | 0.3024 | 0.16 | 0.5425 | 0.08 | 0.0865 |
18:3n3 | 0.15 | 0.0239 | 0.16 | 0.0804 | 0.09 | 0.0051 |
18:2c9t11 | 0.16 | 0.0020 | 0.17 | 0.0073 | 0.08 | 0.0480 |
20:2n6 | 0.15 | 0.0731 | 0.16 | 0.2296 | 0.08 | 0.0915 |
20:3n6 | 0.15 | 0.0135 | 0.17 | 0.0609 | 0.07 | 0.3305 |
20:4n6 | 0.14 | 0.7651 | 0.16 | 0.7115 | 0.08 | 0.0125 |
20:5n3 | 0.15 | 0.1953 | 0.16 | 0.4116 | 0.07 | 0.2991 |
22:5n3 | 0.14 | 0.5481 | 0.16 | 0.722 | 0.07 | 0.2311 |
22:6n3 | 0.14 | 0.6422 | 0.16 | 0.3711 | 0.07 | 0.992 |
HOMA-IR | Insulin (log) | Glucose | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
r2 | P-value | r2 | P-value | r2 | P-value | |
14:0 | 0.11 | 0.0024 | 0.13 | 0.0088 | 0.10 | 0.0614 |
15:0 | 0.09 | 0.1060 | 0.12 | 0.1775 | 0.10 | 0.1762 |
16:0 | 0.09 | 0.1127 | 0.12 | 0.2928 | 0.10 | 0.2815 |
16:1c9 | 0.21 | 0.0873 | 0.12 | 0.2311 | 0.10 | 0.0785 |
18:0 | 0.09 | 0.1854 | 0.12 | 0.5403 | 0.10 | 0.2818 |
18:1t6-8 | 0.08 | 0.4737 | 0.11 | 0.6167 | 0.11 | 0.0565 |
18:1t9 | 0.09 | 0.2372 | 0.12 | 0.4811 | 0.11 | 0.0867 |
18:1t10 | 0.09 | 0.2883 | 0.12 | 0.4064 | 0.10 | 0.1989 |
18:1t11 | 0.08 | 0.8989 | 0.11 | 0.9035 | 0.10 | 0.2031 |
18:1c9 | 0.09 | 0.2495 | 0.12 | 0.2969 | 0.11 | 0.0355 |
18:1c11 | 0.09 | 0.3086 | 0.12 | 0.1099 | 0.10 | 0.4933 |
18:1c12 | 0.08 | 0.3911 | 0.12 | 0.3966 | 0.11 | 0.0535 |
18:2c9t12 | 0.09 | 0.0666 | 0.12 | 0.1023 | 0.10 | 0.2928 |
18:2t9c12 | 0.09 | 0.1503 | 0.12 | 0.2362 | 0.10 | 0.6072 |
18:2n6 | 0.08 | 0.5441 | 0.12 | 0.3801 | 0.10 | 0.8027 |
18:3n6 | 0.09 | 0.2841 | 0.12 | 0.2322 | 0.11 | 0.0171 |
18:3n3 | 0.09 | 0.1225 | 0.12 | 0.1447 | 0.10 | 0.5359 |
18:2c9t11 | 0.09 | 0.2516 | 0.12 | 0.3460 | 0.12 | 0.0085 |
20:2n6 | 0.08 | 0.4447 | 0.12 | 0.3905 | 0.10 | 0.8557 |
20:3n6 | 0.09 | 0.0508 | 0.13 | 0.0354 | 0.10 | 0.0894 |
20:4n6 | 0.08 | 0.7148 | 0.11 | 0.9917 | 0.10 | 0.3656 |
20:5n3 | 0.08 | 0.4941 | 0.12 | 0.4479 | 0.10 | 0.8266 |
22:5n3 | 0.08 | 0.9893 | 0.11 | 0.9204 | 0.10 | 0.6846 |
22:6n3 | 0.08 | 0.6374 | 0.12 | 0.5313 | 0.10 | 0.4428 |
HOMA-IR | Insulin (log) | Glucose | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
r2 | P-value | r2 | P-value | r2 | P-value | |
14:0 | 0.15 | 0.0518 | 0.10 | 0.0897 | 0.13 | 0.0164 |
15:0 | 0.12 | 0.4915 | 0.08 | 0.6001 | 0.08 | 0.5987 |
16:0 | 0.12 | 0.4176 | 0.08 | 0.6002 | 0.09 | 0.2739 |
16:1c9 | 0.12 | 0.6737 | 0.08 | 0.7724 | 0.09 | 0.2273 |
18:0 | 0.12 | 0.8328 | 0.08 | 0.9534 | 0.09 | 0.3685 |
18:1t6-8 | 0.12 | 0.4670 | 0.08 | 0.4406 | 0.14 | 0.0109 |
18:1t9 | 0.12 | 0.3505 | 0.08 | 0.2504 | 0.13 | 0.0145 |
18:1t10 | 0.11 | 0.5304 | 0.07 | 0.5077 | 0.12 | 0.2557 |
18:1t11 | 0.13 | 0.4832 | 0.08 | 0.5813 | 0.09 | 0.3856 |
18:1c9 | 0.13 | 0.2700 | 0.09 | 0.3395 | 0.08 | 0.3988 |
18:1c11 | 0.12 | 0.3661 | 0.08 | 0.4598 | 0.08 | 0.7893 |
18:1c12 | 0.12 | 0.8614 | 0.08 | 0.9561 | 0.08 | 0.7816 |
18:2c9t12 | 0.12 | 0.4865 | 0.08 | 0.7288 | 0.09 | 0.3157 |
18:2t9c12 | 0.12 | 0.6536 | 0.08 | 0.5053 | 0.09 | 0.2049 |
18:2n6 | 0.12 | 0.5885 | 0.08 | 0.7771 | 0.08 | 0.6857 |
18:3n6 | 0.12 | 0.5773 | 0.08 | 0.8202 | 0.09 | 0.2618 |
18:3n3 | 0.19 | 0.0057 | 0.14 | 0.0093 | 0.09 | 0.2911 |
18:2c9t11 | 0.12 | 0.2849 | 0.08 | 0.3788 | 0.04 | 0.3001 |
20:2n6 | 0.13 | 0.2273 | 0.09 | 0.2951 | 0.03 | 0.9353 |
20:3n6 | 0.13 | 0.1943 | 0.09 | 0.2922 | 0.03 | 0.9261 |
20:4n6 | 0.13 | 0.2706 | 0.10 | 0.1549 | 0.03 | 0.7612 |
20:5n3 | 0.12 | 0.8226 | 0.08 | 0.8758 | 0.04 | 0.5325 |
22:5n3 | 0.12 | 0.6271 | 0.08 | 0.7156 | 0.04 | 0.3235 |
22:6n3 | 0.12 | 0.3889 | 0.08 | 0.3763 | 0.04 | 0.5587 |