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Red blood cell fatty acids and age-related macular degeneration in postmenopausal women

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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the relationship between red blood cell (RBC) polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels, and dietary PUFA and fish intake, with prevalent and incident age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a US cohort of postmenopausal women.

Methods

This analysis included 1456 postmenopausal women from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Clinical Trials. RBC PUFAs were measured from fasting serum samples collected at WHI baseline. Dietary PUFAs and fish intake were assessed via food frequency questionnaires at baseline. There were 240 women who had prevalent AMD and 138 who self-reported AMD development over 9.5 years. Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated for prevalent AMD by RBC PUFA levels, dietary PUFA intake, and frequency of fish consumption. Adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated for incident AMD. A p-for-trend was estimated for continuous measures of dietary PUFA and fish intake.

Results

No significant association was found between prevalent or incident AMD and RBC docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) + eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), EPA, DHA, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), linoleic acid (LA), or arachidonic acid (AA). A positive association was found between dietary intake of AA and odds of prevalent AMD (p-for-trend for continuous AA intake = 0.02) and between intake of LA/ALA and incident AMD (p-for-trend for continuous ratio of LA/ALA intake = 0.03). No statistically significant associations were found between AMD and dietary intake of PUFAs or fish.

Conclusions

RBC PUFAs were not associated with AMD in this cohort. Overall, dietary analyses of PUFAs supported this, excepting dietary AA intake and intake of LA in proportion to ALA of which there were trends of increased risk.

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Abbreviations

AA:

Arachidonic acid

ALA:

Alpha linoleic acid

AMD:

Age-related macular degeneration

CaD:

Calcium/Vitamin D Trial

DHA:

Docosahexaenoic acid

DM:

Dietary Modification Trial

EPA:

Eicosapentaenoic acid

FFQ:

Food frequency questionnaire

HT:

Hormone therapy trial

HUFA:

Highly unsaturated fatty acid

LA:

Linoleic acid

PUFA:

Polyunsaturated fatty acid

RBC:

Red blood cell

WHI:

Women’s Health Initiative

WHIMS:

Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study

WHI-SE:

Women’s Health Initiative Sight Exam

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Funding

Funding provided by National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, Broad Area Announcement 19; NIH contract HHSN268200900036C. The WHI program is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through contracts HHSN268201100046C, HHSN268201100001C, HHSN268201100002C, HHSN268201100003C, HHSN268201100004C, and HHSN271201100004C.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, 270 Farber Hall, Buffalo, NY, 14214-8001, USA

    Andrea Elmore, Lina Mu, Kathleen M. Hovey & Amy E. Millen

  2. OmegaQuant Analytics, LLC and Sanford School of Medicine, University of South Dakota, Sioux Falls, SD, USA

    William S. Harris

  3. Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY, USA

    William E. Brady

  4. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Julie A. Mares

  5. Department of Biostatistical Sciences, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Mark A. Espeland

  6. Division of Clinical Trials and MultiCenter Studies, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Mary N. Haan

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Correspondence to Amy E. Millen.

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AE, LM, WEB, KMH, JAM, MAE, MNH, and AEM have no conflicts of interests or disclosures to report. WSH is the President of OmegaQuant, LLC, a laboratory that offers omega-3 index testing.

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Elmore, A., Harris, W.S., Mu, L. et al. Red blood cell fatty acids and age-related macular degeneration in postmenopausal women. Eur J Nutr 61, 1585–1594 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-021-02746-2

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