FATTY-ACID COMPOSITION OF SERUM-LIPIDS PREDICTS MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION

During a follow-up of 5-7 yr, 33 of 1222 middle-aged men initially free of coronary heart disease sustained fatal or nonfatal myocardial infarction or died suddenly. The fatty-acid composition of serum triglycerides, phospholipids and cholesterol esters were measured at the start of the study and in a control group of 64 men matched for age, serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, blood pressure, obesity, smoking and 1-h glucose tolerance. Palmitic and stearic acids were significantly higher, and linoleic and most polyunsaturated fatty acids, including arachidonic acid and eicosapentenoic acid, of phospholipids were lower in the subjects who sustained coronary events compared with the controls. Linoleic acid tended to correlate negatively with blood pressure while other polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially eicosapentenoic acid, exhibited a negative correlation with blood pressure and relative body weight in the controls but not in subjects who sustained coronary events. Apparently, the fatty-acid pattern of serum phospholipids is an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease.