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  • Original Article
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Effects of alpha-linolenic acid versus those of EPA/DHA on cardiovascular risk markers in healthy elderly subjects

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 60, pages 978–984 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

To compare the effects of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, C18:3n-3) to those of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5n-3) plus docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6n-3) on cardiovascular risk markers in healthy elderly subjects.

Design:

A randomized double-blind nutritional intervention study.

Setting:

Department of Human Biology, Maastricht University, the Netherlands.

Subjects:

Thirty-seven mildly hypercholesterolemic subjects, 14 men and 23 women aged between 60 and 78 years.

Interventions:

During a run-in period of 3 weeks, subjects consumed an oleic acid-rich diet. The following 6 weeks, 10 subjects remained on the control diet, 13 subjects consumed an ALA-rich diet (6.8 g/day) and 14 subjects an EPA/DHA-rich diet (1.05 g EPA/day+0.55 g DHA/day).

Results:

Both n-3 fatty acid diets did not change concentrations of total-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triacylglycerol and apoA-1 when compared with the oleic acid-rich diet. However, after the EPA/DHA-rich diet, LDL-cholesterol increased by 0.39 mmol/l (P=0.0323, 95% CI (0.030, 0.780 mmol/l)) when compared with the ALA-rich diet. Intake of EPA/DHA also increased apoB concentrations by 14 mg/dl (P=0.0031, 95% CI (4, 23 mg/dl)) and 12 mg/dl (P=0.005, 95% CI (3, 21 mg/dl)) versus the oleic acid and ALA-rich diet, respectively. Except for an EPA/DHA-induced increase in tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) of 14.6% (P=0.0184 versus ALA diet, 95% CI (1.5, 18.3%)), changes in markers of hemostasis and endothelial integrity did not reach statistical significance following consumption of the two n-3 fatty acid diets.

Conclusions:

In healthy elderly subjects, ALA might affect concentrations of LDL-cholesterol and apoB more favorably than EPA/DHA, whereas EPA/DHA seems to affect TFPI more beneficially.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    P L L Goyens & R P Mensink

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  1. P L L Goyens
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Correspondence to R P Mensink.

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Guarantors: PLL Goyens and RP Mensink.

Contributors: PLLG and RPM participated intellectually in the development of the paper.

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Goyens, P., Mensink, R. Effects of alpha-linolenic acid versus those of EPA/DHA on cardiovascular risk markers in healthy elderly subjects. Eur J Clin Nutr 60, 978–984 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602408

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