Table 3.
Erythrocyte Phospholipid Red Blood Cell Fatty Acid Concentrations Stratified by Smoking Status1
| Smoking Status | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current (n = 126) |
Former (n = 311) |
Never (n = 461) |
P- value2 |
P- value3 |
P- value4 |
|
| Saturated fatty acids | ||||||
| Palmitic acid (16:0) | 26.7 (24.8, 28.9)5 |
25.7 (24.6, 27.3) |
25.5 (24.5, 27.5) |
0.004 | 0.002 | 0.68 |
| Stearic acid (18:0) | 17.5(16.5, 18.8) |
17.0 (16.2, 18.4) |
17.0 (16.1, 18.2) |
0.009 | 0.002 | 0.53 |
| Monounsaturated fatty acids | ||||||
| Oleic acid (18:1) | 14.4 (13.3, 15.8) |
14.5 (13.5, 15.9) |
14.6 (13.4, 16.0) |
0.92 | 0.97 | 0.97 |
| Polyunsaturated fatty acids | ||||||
| n-6 | ||||||
| Linoleic acid (18:2n-6) | 11.1 (9.86, 12.1) |
11.2 (10.2, 12.5) |
11.3 (10.3, 12.2) |
0.28 | 0.12 | 0.50 |
| Di-homo-γ -linolenic acid (20:3n-6) |
1.60 (1.31, 1.90) |
1.56 (1.34, 1.82) |
1.59 (1.35, 1.86) |
0.55 | 0.84 | 0.49 |
| Arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) | 17.2 (14.4, 18.7) |
16.9(14.8, 18.5) |
16.9 (14.8, 18.6) |
0.96 | 0.95 | 0.97 |
| Adrenic acid (22:4n-6) | 3.75 (3.03, 4.32) |
3.64 (2.81, 4.31) |
3.64 (2.73, 4.28) |
0.97 | 0.63 | 0.56 |
| Docosapentaenoic acid (22:5n-6) |
0.70 (0, 0.92) | 0.67(0.38, 0.84) |
0.64 (0.29, 0.82) |
0.31 | 0.08 | 0.27 |
| Total n-6 PUFA | 35.1(31.4, 36.9) |
34.5(31.7, 36.5) |
34.6 (31.2, 36.7) |
0.64 | 0.53 | 0.79 |
| n-3 | ||||||
| Eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3) |
0 (0, 0.36) | 0.35 (0, 0.60) | 0.41(0, 0.63) | <0.0001 | <0.0001 | 0.21 |
| Docosapentaenoic acid (22:5n-3) |
1.96 (1.49, 2.37) |
2.20 (1.80, 2.59) |
2.27 (1.86, 2.53) |
<0.0001 | <0.0001 | 0.96 |
| Docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) |
3.18 (2.59, 4.03) |
3.90 (2.94, 4.96) |
4.04 (3.05, 5.23) |
<0.0001 | <0.0001 | 0.22 |
| Total n-3 PUFA | 5.46 (4.52, 6.28) |
6.39 (5.18, 7.85) |
6.59 (5.34, 8.01) |
<0.0001 | <0.0001 | 0.24 |
| Total n-6 to n-3 ratio | 6.60 (5.62, 7.69) |
5.60 (4.42, 6.68) |
5.39 (4.26, 6.55) |
<0.0001 | <0.0001 | 0.21 |
1
P-value calculated using Wilcoxon Rank Order Sum Test
2
Comparing current smokers to former smokers
3
Comparing current smokers to never smokers
4
Comparing former smokers to never smokers
5
Values expressed as percentage of individual fatty acid over total fatty acid; median and interquartile range