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Biological variation in the plasma concentrations of polyunsaturated long chain fatty acids (PUFA) in older adults
Author(s) -
McCoy Leslie F,
Jorgensen Wanda I,
Chew Emily Y,
Kim Jonghyeon,
Wong Wai T,
Schleicher Rosemary L
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.23.1_supplement.334.7
Subject(s) - eicosapentaenoic acid , polyunsaturated fatty acid , arachidonic acid , linoleic acid , zeaxanthin , population , placebo , docosahexaenoic acid , chemistry , lutein , medicine , food science , fatty acid , endocrinology , biochemistry , carotenoid , enzyme , environmental health , alternative medicine , pathology
Within‐ and between‐subject biological variation is often used to set analytical quality specifications and to evaluate the significance of changes in serial results. A placebo‐controlled PUFA intervention trial allowed estimation of intra‐ (CVi) and inter‐ (CVg) subject coefficients of variation of plasma concentrations of four n‐3 and six n‐6 PUFA in older adults (> 60 years old) all of whom were being supplemented with lutein and zeaxanthin for macular degeneration. Fasting blood samples were collected from 40 subjects at month 0 and from 20 subjects at months 1, 2, 3, 6, and 9 (placebo group). PUFA concentrations (umol/L) were quantitated using negative ion chemical ionization GC‐MS (Mol Gen Metab 2001;73: 38) with some modification. Analytical imprecision (CVa), calculated using inter‐assay CV for three quality control samples measured in duplicate over 20 assays, ranged from 12‐20%. CVg were calculated from the baseline blood draw (n=40). CVi were calculated using data from baseline and 5 subsequent blood draws (n=20). CVg was largest for eicosapentaenoic acid (72%) and smallest for linoleic acid (22%). CVi was largest for eicosapentaenoic acid (33%) and smallest for arachidonic acid (11%). To our knowledge there is little information available about the biological variation of absolute PUFA concentrations, independent of total fatty acid composition, either in older persons or the general population.