Associations of whole blood polyunsaturated fatty acids and insulin resistance among European children and adolescents

This study aims to examine the association of whole blood n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) with insulin resistance (IR) in children. Whole blood fatty acids were measured in 705 children aged 2-9 years of the European IDEFICS/I.Family cohort using gas chromatography in units of weight percentage of all detected fatty acids (%wt/wt). IR was determined by the Homeostasis Model Assessment for IR (HOMA). Mixed effect models were used to assess the associations between selected baseline PUFA and HOMAz-scores at baseline and after 2- and 6-year follow-ups using models with basic and additional confounder adjustment as well as stratified by sex and weight status. In the basic model, alpha-linolenic (beta = 1.46 SD/%wt/wt,p = 0.006) and eicosapentaenoic acid (beta = 1.17 SD/%wt/wt,p = 0.001) were positively associated with baseline HOMAz-score. In the stratified analyses, alpha-linolenic acid was positively associated with HOMAz-score in girls only (beta = 1.98 SD/%wt/wt,p = 0.006) and arachidonic acid was inversely associated with baseline HOMA in thin/normal-weight children (beta = - 0.13 SD/%wt/wt,p = 0.0063). In the fully adjusted model, no statistically significant associations were seen. Conclusions: Our overall results do not indicate a protective role of higher blood n-3 PUFA or an adverse role of higher blood arachidonic acid proportion on the risk of IR.