Abstract
This study investigated data obtained from whole blood fatty acid (FA) composition of 3476 Norwegian and Swedish individuals, which provided background information including age, gender, nationality and self-motivated n-3 supplement consumption. The aim of this paper was to statistically relate this background information on the subjects to their whole blood FA profile, focusing mainly on the n-3 polyunsaturated FA (PUFA). Results showed that age had significant effects on the content of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in blood lipids for the Norwegian individuals, while n-3 PUFA supplementation had a positive effect on EPA and DHA content in whole blood for the investigated population. Gender differences were also found for individual FA. A correlation also exists with previous studies on the FA profiling of blood lipids, further validating the test procedure.
Declaration of interest: The authors at University of Life Science, Department of Chemistry thank Itogha AS and St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim, Norway, for sharing the data used for analysis in this study. The authors acknowledge the work of Angela M. Risso and Bruno Berra, University of Milano, (Italy), which laid the foundations upon which the test and the analytic method had been developed. Authors A. R. and R. B. L. are employed at St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital where the blood spot samples are analyzed. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.