J Stroke.  2015 May;17(2):168-176. 10.5853/jos.2015.17.2.168.

Low Plasma Proportion of Omega 3-Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Predicts Poor Outcome in Acute Non-Cardiogenic Ischemic Stroke Patients

• Song TJ
• Cho HJ
• Chang Y
• Choi K
• Jung AR
• Youn M
• Shin MJ
• Kim YJ

• KMID: 2223673
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5853/jos.2015.17.2.168

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Alterations in blood fatty acid (FA) composition are associated with cardiovascular diseases. We investigated whether plasma FA composition was related to stroke severity and functional outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients.
METHODS
We prospectively enrolled 156 patients with first-episode cerebral infarction, within 7 days of symptom onset. The proportion of FAs was analyzed using gas chromatography, and the summation of the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega3-PUFA), 18:3 omega3 alpha-linolenic acid, 20:3 omega3 eicosatrienoic acid, 20:5 omega3 eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and 22:6 omega3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was reported as Sigmaomega3-PUFAs. Stroke severity was assessed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score on admission. Poor functional outcome was defined by modified Rankin scale (mRS) > or =3 at three months after the index stroke.
RESULTS
Lower proportions of EPA (beta=-0.751), DHA (beta=-0.610), and Sigmaomega3-PUFAs (beta=-0.462) were independently associated with higher NIHSS score, after adjusting for stroke subtype, hemoglobin, high density lipoprotein, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, fasting glucose, 16:0 palmitic acid, and Sigmasaturated fatty acids. Moreover, a lower proportion of DHA (odds ratio [OR]: 0.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.04-0.88), and Sigmaomega3-PUFAs (OR: 0.22, 95% CI: 0.05-0.84) showed an independent relationship with poor functional outcome after adjusting for age, sex, smoking status, NIHSS score, stroke subtype, and 16:0 palmitic acid.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results demonstrate that omega3-PUFAs correlated with stroke severity on admission and functional outcomes at 3 months. omega3-PUFAs are potential blood biomarkers for prognosis of acute non-cardiogenic ischemic stroke patients.

Keyword

Fatty acids composition; Docosahexaenoic acid; Eicosapentaenoic acid; omega3-polyunsaturated fatty acids, Stroke outcome

MeSH Terms

alpha-Linolenic Acid
Biomarkers
C-Reactive Protein
Cardiovascular Diseases
Cerebral Infarction
Chromatography, Gas
Eicosapentaenoic Acid
Fasting
Fatty Acids*
Fatty Acids, Unsaturated
Glucose
Humans
Lipoproteins
National Institutes of Health (U.S.)
Palmitic Acid
Plasma*
Prognosis
Prospective Studies
Smoke
Smoking
Stroke*
C-Reactive Protein
Eicosapentaenoic Acid
Fatty Acids
Fatty Acids, Unsaturated
Glucose
Lipoproteins
Palmitic Acid
Smoke
alpha-Linolenic Acid