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. 2013 Mar 6;12:25. doi: 10.1186/1476-511X-12-25

Table 3.

Product: precursor ratio desaturase activities in 5 lipid pools with effects of African Caribbean and Asian Indian ethnicity relative to White European derived from linear regression models incorporating ethnicity and potential confounding variables

  White European n = 89 (median, IQ range) African-Caribbean n = 53 (coefficient, 95%CI) Asian Indian n = 56 (coefficient, 95%CI)
Stearoyl-CoA desaturase C16
     FF
0.15 (0.12,0.20)
−0.05 (−0.07,−0.04) §
−0.04 (−0.05,−0.02) §
     TG
0.17 (0.14,0.20)
−0.04 (−0.05,−0.03) §
−0.03 (−0.04,−0.02) §
     CE
0.25 (0.20,0.30)
−0.08 (−0.10,−0.04) §
−0.06 (−0.09,−0.03) §
     PL
0.02 (0.02,0.03)
−0.007 (−0.010,−0.004) §
−0.005 (−0.008,−0.002) §
Stearoyl-CoA desaturase C18
     FF
3.8 (3.0,5.0)
−0.14 (−0.24,0.03) *
−0.06 (−0.17,0.05)
     TG
11.3 (9.7,13.8)
−0.23 (−0.36,−0.09)
−0.15 (−0.30,−0.01) *
     CE
20.3 (16.8,23.5)
−0.13 (−0.24,−0.02) *
−0.09 (−0.21,,0.03)
     PL
0.84 (0.73,0.94)
−0.13 (−0.17,−0.09) §
−0.13 (−0.16,−0.09) §
n-6 Δ-6 desaturase
     FF
0.00 (0.00,0.01)
0.003 (−0.002,0.008)
−0.002 (−0.007,0.004)
     TG
0.01 (0.01,0.02)
0.001 (−0.002,0.005)
0.002 (−0.002,0.006)
     CE
0.01 (0.01.0.01)
−0.001 (−0.002,0.001)
−0.003 (−0.004,−0.001)
     PL
0.09 (0.07,0.11)
−0.010 (−0.021,−0.001) *
−0.025 (−0.036,−0.014) §
n-6 Δ-5 desaturase
     FF
2.1 (0.0,12.5)
0.16 (−0.31,0.62)
0.51 (0.00,1.01) *
     TG
4.4 (3.2,5.5)
0.17 (−0.01,0.35)
0.01 (−0.19,0.20)
     CE
8.9 (7.4,10.8)
0.29 (0.13,0.45)
0.14 (−0.04,0.32)
     PL
2.9 (2.2,3.5)
0.13 (0.04,0.22)
0.12 (0.02,0.22) *
n-3 Δ desaturase
     FF
0.00 (0.00,0.20)
0.22 (−0.00,0.44)
−0.10 (−0.34,0.10)
     TG
0.18 (0.11,0.30)
0.16 (0.03,0.29) *
0.09 (−0.05,0.23)
     CE
1.28 (0.92,1.79)
0.12 (−0.30,0.55)
0.28 (−0.18, 0.75)
     PL 2.78 (1.79,4.43) −0.03 (−0.33,0.26) −0.09 (−0.40,0.23)

Abbreviations: TF total fatty acids; FF free fatty acids; TG triglycerides; CE cholesterol esters; PL phospholipids.

Significant, independent effects of ethnicity on desaturase activity were identified with regression models incorporating ethnicity and potential confounding variables, according to the general structure: desaturase activity = b1.(African Caribbean ethnicity) + b2.(Asian Indian ethnicity) + b3.(BMI) + b4.(waist circumference) + b5.(triglycerides) + b6.(HDL cholesterol).

Significances * p < 0.05; p < 0.01; § p < 0.001 refer to the significance of coefficients b1 and b2 and give the significance of the effects of African Caribbean and Asian Indian ethnicity, respectively, relative to white European ethnicity.