Adipose Tissue α-Linolenic Acid and Nonfatal Acute Myocardial Infarction in Costa Rica

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Abstract
Background— α-Linolenic acid may protect against cardiovascular disease. We examined the association between adipose tissue α-linolenic acid and nonfatal acute myocardial infarction (MI) in a population-based case-control study in Costa Rica. Methods and Results— The 482 case patients with a first nonfatal acute MI and 482 population control subjects were matched by age, sex, and area of residence. Fatty acids were assessed by gas-liquid chromatography in adipose tissue samples collected from all subjects. ORs and 95% CIs were calculated from multivariate conditional logistic regression models. Subjects in the top quintiles of adipose tissue α-linolenic acid had a lower risk of MI than those in the lowest quintile: OR (95% CI), 1.00; 0.80 (0.52 to 1.24); 0.53 (0.34 to 0.82); 0.44 (0.28 to 0.67); and 0.37 (0.24 to 0.59); test for trend, P trans fatty acids (OR for the top versus lowest quintile, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.10 to 0.50; test for trend, P P Conclusions— The inverse association observed between α-linolenic acid and nonfatal acute MI suggests that consumption of vegetable oils rich in α-linolenic acid confers important protection against cardiovascular disease.