High levels of eicosapentaenoic acid are associated with lower pericoronary adipose tissue attenuation as measured by coronary CTA

Bittner DO, Göller M, Dey D, Zopf Y, Achenbach S, Marwan M (2020)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

Atherosclerosis Elsevier

DOI: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2020.10.006

Abstract

Background and aims: Higher pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) attenuation, a novel marker of inflammation in coronary CT angiography (CTA), has been shown to indicate increased cardiac mortality. Supplementation of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) has been shown to decrease cardiovascular death. Whether blood levels of n-3 fatty acids are associated with differences in PCAT attenuation is unknown. Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis including 64 symptomatic patients who underwent coronary CTA. PCAT attenuation was measured in Hounsfield Units (HU) around the proximal 40 mm of the right coronary artery using semi-automated software. Erythrocyte membrane fatty acid composition was analyzed using gas chromatography. Individual fatty acids were expressed as a percentage of total identified fatty acids. Results: The patient cohort was divided into two groups using the median PCAT attenuation of −78.1 HU (each n = 32). No differences were seen in age, sex, BMI or traditional cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) between groups (all p > 0.05). In univariable analysis, significantly higher values of EPA (1.00% [0.78; 1.26] vs. 0.78% [0.63; 0.99]; p = 0.02) were seen in patients with lower PCAT attenuation. All other fatty acids showed no differences (all p > 0.05). Moreover, a significant negative correlation was seen between PCAT attenuation and EPA (CC: 0.38; p = 0.002). In multivariable analysis, an inverse association of EPA with PCAT attenuation existed (ß = −0.31, p = 0.017), independent of age, gender, BMI and number of CVRF (all p > 0.1). Conclusions: High levels of EPA are associated with lower PCAT attenuation on coronary CTA. This may indicate a different composition of pericoronary adipose tissue, potentially caused by a lower degree of coronary inflammation.

Authors with CRIS profile

Markus Göller Department of Medicine 2 – Cardiology and Angiology Yurdagül Zopf Professur für Integrative Medizin mit dem Schwerpunkt Ernährungsmedizin (Stiftungsprofessur der Hector Stiftung II gGmbH) Stephan Achenbach Lehrstuhl für Innere Medizin II Mohamed Marwan Department of Medicine 2 – Cardiology and Angiology

Involved external institutions

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center US United States (USA) (US)

How to cite

APA:

Bittner, D.O., Göller, M., Dey, D., Zopf, Y., Achenbach, S., & Marwan, M. (2020). High levels of eicosapentaenoic acid are associated with lower pericoronary adipose tissue attenuation as measured by coronary CTA. Atherosclerosis. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2020.10.006

MLA:

Bittner, Daniel O., et al. "High levels of eicosapentaenoic acid are associated with lower pericoronary adipose tissue attenuation as measured by coronary CTA." Atherosclerosis (2020).

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