Table 2.

Circulating and dietary n-3 fatty acids and linoleic acid in different plasma lipid pools, and correlations between circulating and dietary fatty acids in the Alpha Omega Cohort

Plasma lipid pool	Circulating levels of fatty acid		Dietary intake of fatty acid		Spearman rank correlation (rs)a
					Crude	P	Partial	P
Cholesteryl esters (n=4,066)	EPA (%)	1.06 (0.79-1.52)	EPA (mg/d)	41.3 (12.6-72.2)	0.39 (0.36, 0.41)	<0.001	0.39 (0.37, 0.42)	<0.001
	DHA (%)	0.67 (0.53-0.84)	DHA(mg/d)	67.4 (29.7-114.9)	0.44 (0.41, 0.46)	<0.001	0.45 (0.43, 0.48)	<0.001
	ALA (%)	0.49 (0.41-0.59)	ALA (g/d)	0.93 (0.68-1.33)	−0.01 (−0.04, 0.02)	0.56	−0.02 (−0.05, 0.01)	0.25
	LA (%)	49.9±5.0	LA (en%)	5.7±2.2	0.16 (0.13, 0.19)	<0.001	0.15 (0.12, 0.18)	<0.001
Phospholipids (n=838)	EPA (%)	1.13 (0.85-1.56)	EPA (mg/d)	45.0 (12.8-74.1)	0.35 (0.29, 0.41)	<0.001	0.37 (0.31, 0.43)	<0.001
	DHA (%)	4.49 (3.68-5.39)	DHA(mg/d)	72.3 (30.9-120.2)	0.48 (0.42, 0.53)	<0.001	0.50 (0.45, 0.55)	<0.001
	ALA (%)	0.14 (0.11-0.17)	ALA (g/d)	0.92 (0.67-1.30)	−0.00 (−0.07, 0.06)	0.89	−0.01 (−0.07, 0.06)	0.85
	LA (%)	18.7±3.0	LA (en%)	5.8±2.2	0.11 (0.05, 0.18)	0.001	0.10 (0.03, 0.17)	0.003
Total plasmab (n=739)	DHA (%)	1.24 (1.05-1.55)	DHA (mg/d)	63.5 (25.8-109.5)	0.41 (0.35, 0.47)	<0.001	0.43 (0.37, 0.49)	<0.001
	LA (%)	26.3±3.6	LA (en%)	5.7±2.3	0.17 (0.10, 0.24)	<0.001	0.16 (0.08, 0.23)	<0.001
	DHA (mmol/L)	0.14 (0.12-0.18)	DHA (mg/d)	63.5 (25.8-109.5)	0.34 (0.27, 0.40)	<0.001	0.37 (0.31, 0.43)	<0.001
	LA (mmol/L)	3.05±0.72	LA (en%)	5.7±2.3	0.12 (0.04, 0.19)	0.002	0.13 (0.06, 0.20)	<0.001

Values are shown as mean ± standard deviation, median (interquartile range);

^ar_s (95% CI), with P-values, for association between dietary and circulating fatty acids in corresponding plasma pools. Partial correlations were adjusted for age, sex, and total energy intake;

^bEPA and ALA were not measured in total plasma;

ALA, alpha-linolenic acid; DHA, docosahexaenoic acid; EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid; LA, linoleic acid.