Published Online
on June 4, 2007

A more recent version of this article appeared on August 1, 2007

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Submitted on March 8, 2007
Revised on March 26, 2007

Food Omega-3 Fatty Acid Intake of Individuals (Total, Linolenic Acid, Long-Chain) and Their Blood Pressure. INTERMAP Study

Hirotsugu Ueshima^*; Jeremiah Stamler; Paul Elliott; Queenie Chan; Ian J. Brown; Mercedes R. Carnethon; Martha L. Daviglus; Ka He; Alicia Moag-Stahlberg; Beatriz L. Rodriguez; Lyn M. Steffen; Linda Van Horn; John Yarnell; Beifan Zhou; for the INTERMAP Research Group

From the Department of Health Science (H.U.), Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga, Japan; Department of Preventive Medicine (J.S., M.R.C., M.L.D., K.H., A.M.-S., L.V.H.), Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill; Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine (P.E., Q.C., I.J.B.), Imperial College London, St Mary’s Campus, London, UK; University of Hawaii and Pacific Health Research Institute (B.L.R.), Honolulu, Hawaii; University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health (L.M.S.), Minneapolis, Minn; Department of Medicine (J.Y.), University of Belfast School of Medicine, Belfast, UK; Department of Epidemiology, Fu Wai Hospital and Cardiovascular Institute (B.Z.), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hueshima{at}belle.shiga-med.ac.jp.

Abstract--Findings from short-term randomized trials indicate that dietary supplements of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PFA) lower blood pressure of hypertensive persons, but effect size in nonhypertensive individuals is small and nonsignificant. Data are lacking on food omega-3 PFA and blood pressure in general populations. The International Study of Macro- and Micro-nutrients and Blood Pressure (INTERMAP) is an international cross-sectional epidemiologic study of 4680 men and women ages 40 to 59 from 17 population-based samples in China, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States. We report associations of food omega-3 PFA intake (total, linolenic acid, long-chain) of individuals with blood pressure. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured 8 times at 4 visits. With several models to control for possible confounders (dietary, other), linear regression analyses showed inverse relationship of total omega-3 PFA from food (percent kilocalories, from four 24-hour dietary recalls) to systolic and diastolic blood pressures. With adjustment for 17 variables, estimated systolic blood pressure/diastolic blood pressure differences with 2 standard deviation higher (0.67% kcal) omega-3 PFA were -0.55/-0.57 mm Hg (Z-score -1.33, -2.00); for 2238 persons without medical or dietary intervention, -1.01/-0.98 mm Hg (Z -1.63, -2.25); for 2038 nonhypertensive persons from this sub-cohort, -0.91/-0.92 mm Hg (Z -1.80, -2.38). For linolenic acid (largely from vegetable foods), blood pressure differences were similar, eg, for the 2238 "nonintervened" individuals, -0.97/-0.87 mm Hg (Z -1.52, -1.95); blood pressure differences were -0.32/-0.45 mm Hg for long-chain omega-3 PFA (largely from fish). In summary, food omega-3 PFA intake related inversely to blood pressure, including in nonhypertensive persons, with small estimated effect size. Food omega-3 PFA may contribute to prevention and control of adverse blood pressure levels.

Key words: blood pressure • nutrition • food • omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids • population study

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