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Trans-fatty acid consumption and heart rate variability in 2 separate cohorts of older and younger adults.

TitleTrans-fatty acid consumption and heart rate variability in 2 separate cohorts of older and younger adults.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2012
AuthorsSoares-Miranda, L, Stein, PK, Imamura, F, Sattelmair, J, Lemaitre, RN, Siscovick, DS, Mota, J, Mozaffarian, D
JournalCirc Arrhythm Electrophysiol
Volume5
Issue4
Pagination728-38
Date Published2012 Aug 01
ISSN1941-3084
KeywordsAdolescent, Age Factors, Aged, Aging, Arrhythmias, Cardiac, Cohort Studies, Cross-Sectional Studies, Dietary Fats, Electrocardiography, Ambulatory, Feeding Behavior, Female, Heart Rate, Humans, Linear Models, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Multivariate Analysis, Portugal, Predictive Value of Tests, Prospective Studies, Risk Assessment, Risk Factors, Surveys and Questionnaires, Trans Fatty Acids, United States, Young Adult
Abstract<p><b>BACKGROUND: </b>Trans-fatty acid (TFA) consumption is associated with risk of coronary heart disease, and trans-18:2, but not trans-18:1, in red blood cell membranes has been associated with sudden cardiac arrest. Abnormal heart rate variability (HRV) reflects autonomic dysfunction and predicts cardiac death. Relationships between TFA consumption and HRV remain understudied. We determined whether total TFA consumption, as well as trans-18:1 and trans-18:2 TFA consumption, was independently associated with HRV in 2 independent cohorts in the United States and Portugal.</p><p><b>METHODS AND RESULTS: </b>In 2 independent cohorts of older US adults (Cardiovascular Health Study [CHS], age 72±5 years, 1989/1995) and young Portuguese adults (Porto, age 19±2 years, 2008/2010), we assessed habitual TFA intake by food frequency questionnaires in CHS (separately estimating trans-18:1 and trans-18:2) and multiple 24-hour recalls in Porto (estimating total TFA only, which in a subset correlated with circulating trans-18:2 but not trans-18:1, suggesting that we captured the former). HRV was assessed using 24-hour Holters in CHS (n=1076) and repeated short-term (5-minute) ECGs in Porto (n=160). We used multivariate-adjusted linear regression to relate TFA consumption to HRV cross-sectionally (CHS, Porto) and longitudinally (CHS). In CHS, higher trans-18:2 consumption was associated with lower 24-hour SD of all normal-to-normal intervals both cross-sectionally (-12%; 95% CI, -19% to -6%; P=0.001) and longitudinally (-15%; 95% CI, -25% to -4%; P= 0.009) and lower 24-hour SD of 5-minute average N-N intervals and mean of the 5-minute SD of N-N intervals calculated over 24 hours (P<0.05 each). Higher trans-18:1 consumption in CHS was associated with more favorable 24-hour HRV in particular time-domain indices (24-hour SD of all normal-to-normal intervals, SD of 5-minute average N-N intervals, mean of the 5-minute SD of N-N intervals calculated over 24 hours; P<0.05 each). In Porto, each higher SD TFA consumption was associated with 4% lower 5-minute 24-hour SD of all normal-to-normal intervals (95% CI, -8% to -1%; P=0.04) and 7% lower 5-minute square root of the mean of the squares of successive N-N differences (95% CI, -13% to -1%; P=0.04).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS: </b>Trans-18:2 consumption is associated with specific, less favorable indices of HRV in both older and young adults. Trans-18:1 consumption is associated with more favorable HRV indices in older adults. Our results support the need to investigate potential HRV-related mechanisms, whereby trans-18:2 may increase arrhythmic risk.</p>
DOI10.1161/CIRCEP.111.966259
Alternate JournalCirc Arrhythm Electrophysiol
PubMed ID22772898
PubMed Central IDPMC3967844
Grant ListP30 AG024827 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
R01 HL075366 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
R01 AG015928 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
R01 HL085710 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
U01 HL080295 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01 HC015103 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
R56 AG020098 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
N01HC55222 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01HC85086 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
R01 HL080295 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
R01 AG020098 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
N01HC75150 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01HC85079 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
R01 AG027058 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
N01 HC045133 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01 HC035129 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States