Overall and Abdominal Obesity Are Inversely Associated With Plasma n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Iranian Adults

Abstract

<strong>Background: </strong>Obesity is a common health problem associated with a number of diseases, such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, gout, gall bladder and liver disease, cancer, and depression. The prevalence of obesity is dramatically increasing around the world, especially in the Asia Pacific region. omega-3 is a type of polyunsaturated fatty acids that have several beneficial effects on some diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, bipolar disorder and asthma. Therefore, the main objective of the present study was to determine the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in subjects with different categories of BMI (healthy- weight, overweight, and obese) and WC (not at risk, increased risk, and substantially increased risk). <strong>Method: </strong>In the current study, a total of 151 individuals consist of 58 men and 93 women (aged 18-65 year) were randomly recruited from patients attending the nutrition clinics of Mashhad, Iran. Participants were divided into three groups according to body mass index (BMI) (healthy-weight, overweight, and obese) and WC categories (not at risk, increased risk, and substantially increased risk). Plasma levels of omega-3 fatty acids were analyzed in blood sample of all participants by gas chromatography apparatus equipped with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID). The protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Mashhad University of Medical Science (MUMS) and written informed consent was obtained from all individuals. <strong>Results: </strong>Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were inverse association with increasing both overall (p<0.001, pConclusion: Plasma omega-3 polyunsaturated free fatty acids were inversely in relation with anthropometric measures of obesity including BMI and WC. Further studies are needed to identify the possible mechanism(s) that links plasma omega-3 fatty acids with overall and abdominal obesity.