@article{WangEnsslePietzneretal.2022, author = {Wang, Chaoxuan and Enssle, J{\"o}rg and Pietzner, Anne and Schm{\"o}cker, Christoph and Weiland, Linda and Ritter, Oliver and Jaensch, Monique and Elbelt, Ulf and Pagonas, Nikolaos and Weylandt, Karsten-Henrich}, title = {Essential polyunsaturated fatty acids in blood from patients with and without catheter-proven coronary artery disease}, series = {International journal of molecular sciences}, volume = {23}, journal = {International journal of molecular sciences}, number = {2}, publisher = {Molecular Diversity Preservation International}, address = {Basel}, issn = {1422-0067}, doi = {10.3390/ijms23020766}, pages = {14}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Statins reduce morbidity and mortality of CAD. Intake of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFAs), particularly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), is associated with reduced morbidity and mortality in patients with CAD. Previous data indicate that a higher conversion of precursor fatty acids (FAs) to arachidonic acid (AA) is associated with increased CAD prevalence. Our study explored the FA composition in blood to assess n-3 PUFA levels from patients with and without CAD. We analyzed blood samples from 273 patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. Patients were stratified according to clinically relevant CAD (n = 192) and those without (n = 81). FA analysis in full blood was performed by gas chromatography. Indicating increased formation of AA from precursors, the ratio of dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA) to AA, the delta-5 desaturase index (D5D index) was higher in CAD patients. CAD patients had significantly lower levels of omega-6 polyunsaturated FAs (n-6 PUFA) and n-3 PUFA, particularly EPA, in the blood. Thus, our study supports a role of increased EPA levels for cardioprotection.}, language = {en} }