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Health issues and nutrition in the elderly

Causal associations of plasma omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids with sarcopenia-related traits: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the causal effect of plasma omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on sarcopenia-related traits (lean mass, grip strength and walking pace) utilizing two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach.

Methods

Based on genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics, we performed two-sample MR applying the inverse variance weighted (IVW) as the primary method, supplemented with four additional sensitivity analyses. Furthermore, multivariable MR (MVMR) was applied to assess these associations independent of alcohol drinking, type 2 diabetes (T2D), triglycerides (TG), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and C-reactive protein (CRP).

Results

In univariable MR, the IVW analysis suggested no significant causal effect of genetically determined plasma omega-3 PUFAs on fat-free mass (right leg: β = 0.01, 95% CI = −0.02 to 0.05, P = 0.375; left leg: β = 0.01, 95% CI = −0.02 to 0.04, P = 0.446; right arm: β = 0.01, 95% CI = −0.02 to 0.05, P = 0.376; left arm: β = 0.01, 95% CI = −0.02 to 0.04, P = 0.384; trunk:β = 0.02, 95% CI = −0.02 to 0.06, P = 0.283; whole: β = 0.01, 95% CI = −0.03 to 0.04, P = 0.631), grip strength (right hand: β = −0.01, 95% CI = −0.03 to 0.01, P = 0.387; left hand: β = −0.01, 95% CI = −0.02 to 0.01, P = 0.553) and walking pace (β = 0.00, 95% CI = −0.01 to 0.02, P = 0.575), and sensitive analysis generated similar non-significant results. Furthermore, the MVMR revealed no independent causal association.

Conclusions

Genetically determined plasma omega-3 PUFAs have no causal effect on sarcopenia-related traits.

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Fig. 1: The schematic diagram of our present two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study design.
Fig. 2: Estimated casual associations of plasma omega-3 PUFAs with FFM using different MR methods.
Fig. 3: Estimated casual associations of plasma omega-3 PUFAs with grip strength using different MR methods.
Fig. 4: Estimated causal associations of plasma omega-3 PUFAs with walking pace using different MR methods.

Data availability

Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely thank all investigators for sharing the genome-wide association studies (GWASs) summary statistic data.

Funding

This work was supported by Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. LY20H260001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, Health Science Center, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China

    Ting Jin, Mengqiao Wang, Zhen Zeng & Lina Zhang

  2. Institute of Geriatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China

    Wenming He & Yifeng Mai

  3. Clinical Research Centre, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    Han Cen

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Contributions

All authors were involved in drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, and all authors approved the final version to be submitted for publication. LN (zhanglina@nbu.edu.cn), YF (fymaiyifeng@nbu.edu.cn) and HC (cenhan@nbu.edu.cn) had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Conception and design: TJ, LN, YF, and HC; Acquisition of data: TJ, QM, ZZ, WM, and HC; Analysis and interpretation of data: TJ, QM, ZZ, WM, LN, YF, and HC.

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Correspondence to Lina Zhang, Yifeng Mai or Han Cen.

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Jin, T., Wang, M., Zeng, Z. et al. Causal associations of plasma omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids with sarcopenia-related traits: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study. Eur J Clin Nutr (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-023-01339-y

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