Polyunsaturated fatty acids and calcaneal ultrasound parameters among Inuit women from Nuuk (Greenland): a longitudinal study

Figures & data

Table I Characteristics of Greenlandic Inuit women

Characteristic	Mean±SD (N=118)	Range
2002 measurements
SOS (m/s)	1518±23	1464–1600
BUA (dB/MHz)	106.4±10.6	80–144
2000 measurements
SOS (m/s)	1523±23	1464–1595
BUA (dB/MHz)	108.0±9.6	84–136
Age (years)	55.3±4.2	49–64
Weight (kg)	67.6±14.5	37–99
Height (cm)	155.9±6.7	142–171
Total cholesterol (mmol/L)	2.6±0.5	1.7–4.7
Total triglycerides (mmol/L)	1.6±1.3	0.4–13.4
	N (%)
Menopausal status	118
Postmenopausal	107 (90.7)
Non-menopausal	11 (9.3)
Level of education	116
None or primary school	109 (94.0)
Secondary or higher	7 (6.0)
Current smoker	118
Yes	85 (72.0)
No	33 (28.0)
Calcium supplement use	118
Yes	12 (10.2)
No	106 (89.8)
Personal history of fracture	118
Yes	9 (7.6)
No	109 (92.4)
Fish consumption	118
<3 meals/week	100 (84.8)
≥3 meals/week	18 (15.2)
Oral contraceptive use	118
Yes	47 (39.8)
No	71 (60.2)
HRT use	118
Yes	10 (8.5)
No	108 (91.5)

Table II Omega-3 and omega-6 PUFA contents of erythrocyte membrane phospholipids in Greenlandic Inuit women

PUFA^a	N	Mean±SD	Range^b
% of the total fatty acids
C18:3n-3 (ALA)	117	0.27±0.11	0.02–0.71
C18:4n-3 (STA)	118	0.03±0.05	0.00–0.53
C20:3n-3	118	0.03±0.02	0.00–0.12
C20:4n-3	118	0.03±0.03	0.00–0.19
C20:5n-3 (EPA)	118	4.81±2.83	0.60–12.36
C22:5n-3 (DPA)	118	1.48±0.42	0.53–2.57
C22:6n-3 (DHA)	118	7.32±1.85	2.70–13.05
Σomega-3 HPFA^c	118	13.67±4.69	4.27–27.32
Σomega-3 PUFA^d	118	13.97±4.63	4.78–27.56
C18:2n-6 (LA)	118	14.89±4.08	5.94–25.41
C18:3n-6 (GLA)	118	0.11±0.04	0.01–0.22
C20:2n-6	118	0.50±0.17	0.08–0.91
C20:3n-6 (DGLA)	118	1.71±0.72	0.25–3.81
C20:4n-6 (AA)	118	5.41±1.23	3.50–9.29
C22:2n-6	118	0.02±0.02	0.00–0.13
C22:4n-6	118	0.06±0.06	0.00–0.28
C22:5n-6 (OBA)	118	0.11±0.07	0.00–0.32
Σomega-6 PUFA^e	118	22.79±4.47	12.44–31.45
Ratio
Σomega-3/Σomega-6 PUFA	118	0.68±0.37	0.17–2.21
ALA/LA	117	0.02±0.01	0.003–0.04
EPA/LA	118	0.41±0.40	0.03–1.92
DHA/LA	118	0.57±0.34	0.12–2.15
Σomega-3 HPFA/LA	118	1.11±0.79	0.19–4.50
EPA/AA	118	0.91±0.52	0.14–2.29
DHA/AA	118	1.42±0.47	0.43–2.62
Σomega-3 HPFA/AA	118	2.62±0.98	0.67–5.30

^aMeasured at baseline (year 2000).

^bMinimum–maximum.

^cOmega-3 HPFA=ΣC20:3n-3+C20:4n-3+C20:5n-3+C22:5n-3+C22:6n-3.

^dOmega-3 PUFA=ΣC18:3n-3+C18:4n-3+C20:3n-3+C20:4n-3+C20:5n-3+C22:5n-3+C22:6n-3.

^eOmega-6 PUFA=ΣC18:2n-6+C18:3n-6+C20:2n-6+C20:3n-6+C20:4n-6+C22:2n-6+C22:4n-6+C22:5n-6.

Table III Multivariate models for SOS (m/s) and BUA (dB/MHz) measures performed in 2002

Main exposure variable		SOS^a			BUA^b
PUFA	N	R^2	Regression coefficient (SE)	p-value	R^2	Regression coefficient (SE)	p-value
ALA^c	115	0.8452	0.805 (9.999)	0.9360	0.7230	−4.506 (6.277)	0.4745
ALA^d	115	0.8503	3.130 (8.622)	0.7173	0.7156	−9.942 (5.584)	0.0780
ALA^e	115	0.8447	−2.199 (8.325)	0.7922	0.7156	−10.313 (5.299)	0.0544
ALA^f	115	0.8473	5.850 (10.315)	0.5718	0.7207	−4.880 (6.545)	0.4576
EPA^c	116	0.8451	0.276 (0.545)	0.6140	0.7311	0.654 (0.340)	0.0569
EPA^d	116	0.8495	0.123 (0.343)	0.7205	0.7311	0.648 (0.218)	0.0036
EPA^e	116	0.8451	0.277 (0.343)	0.4213	0.7325	0.685 (0.214)	0.0019
EPA^f	116	0.8465	−0.106 (0.526)	0.8414	0.7312	0.695 (0.329)	0.0369
DHA^c	116	0.8447	−0.053 (0.851)	0.9506	0.7226	0.364 (0.535)	0.4984
DHA^d	116	0.8494	0.132 (0.525)	0.8023	0.7211	0.744 (0.338)	0.0297
DHA^e	116	0.8444	0.243 (0.546)	0.6569	0.7212	0.824 (0.346)	0.0189
DHA^f	116	0.8470	−0.473 (0.762)	0.5367	0.7220	0.472 (0.485)	0.3328
Σomega-3 HPFA^c	116	0.8450	0.163 (0.404)	0.6870	0.7296	0.444 (0.251)	0.0799
Σomega-3 HPFA^d	116	0.8495	0.073 (0.211)	0.7294	0.7296	0.384 (0.134)	0.0050
Σomega-3 HPFA^e	116	0.8450	0.160 (0.214)	0.4563	0.7310	0.414 (0.134)	0.0025
Σomega-3 HPFA^f	116	0.8467	−0.165 (0.367)	0.6533	0.7297	0.454 (0.230)	0.0506
Σomega-3 PUFA^c	116	0.8449	0.153 (0.411)	0.7100	0.7292	0.440 (0.256)	0.0880
Σomega-3 PUFA^d	116	0.8495	0.072 (0.214)	0.7361	0.7292	0.386 (0.136)	0.0054
Σomega-3 PUFA^e	116	0.8450	0.159 (0.217)	0.4662	0.7307	0.417 (0.136)	0.0027
Σomega-3 PUFA^f	116	0.8467	−0.176 (0.371)	0.6357	0.7293	0.450 (0.233)	0.0559
LA^g	116	0.8467	−0.464 (0.435)	0.2884	0.7297	0.092 (0.273)	0.7375
LA^h	116	0.8465	−0.362 (0.386)	0.3501	0.7312	0.039 (0.242)	0.8720
LA^i	116	0.8470	−0.462 (0.356)	0.1973	0.7220	−0.192 (0.228)	0.4013
LA^j	115	0.8473	−0.403 (0.309)	0.1943	0.7207	−0.270 (0.196)	0.1720
AA^g	116	0.8495	1.410 (0.803)	0.0822	0.7296	0.114 (0.509)	0.8227
AA^h	116	0.8495	1.399 (0.809)	0.0866	0.7311	0.061 (0.511)	0.9047
AA^i	116	0.8494	1.450 (0.788)	0.0685	0.7211	0.314 (0.507)	0.5368
AA^j	115	0.8503	1.613 (0.830)	0.0547	0.7156	0.097 (0.537)	0.8568
OBA^g	116	0.8450	0.715 (14.159)	0.9598	0.7310	6.849 (8.870)	0.4418
OBA^h	116	0.8451	0.613 (14.081)	0.9654	0.7325	6.380 (8.804)	0.4703
OBA^i	116	0.8444	−0.037 (14.271)	0.9979	0.7212	5.984 (9.076)	0.5112
OBA^j	115	0.8447	−1.666 (13.923)	0.9050	0.7156	1.754 (8.882)	0.8439
Σomega-6 PUFA^g	116	0.8450	0.008 (0.453)	0.9864	0.7296	0.070 (0.282)	0.8036
Σomega-6 PUFA^h	116	0.8451	0.001 (0.378)	0.9970	0.7311	−0.0001 (0.235)	0.9997
Σomega-6 PUFA^i	116	0.8447	−0.167 (0.376)	0.6572	0.7226	−0.230 (0.237)	0.3355
Σomega-6 PUFA^j	115	0.8452	−0.155 (0.283)	0.5856	0.7230	−0.294 (0.178)	0.1011
Omega-3/omega-6 PUFA^k	116	0.8453	2.347 (2.633)	0.3748	0.7279	4.795 (1.652)	0.0045
EPA/LA^k	116	0.8454	2.198 (2.400)	0.3619	0.7243	3.999 (1.517)	0.0097
DHA/LA^k	116	0.8458	3.092 (2.927)	0.2934	0.7218	4.545 (1.859)	0.0162
Σomega-3 HPFA/LA^k	116	0.8457	1.253 (1.229)	0.3105	0.7236	2.012 (0.778)	0.0111
EPA/AA^k	116	0.8443	0.634 (1.842)	0.7315	0.7290	3.434 (1.152)	0.0036
DHA/AA^k	116	0.8453	−1.798 (2.055)	0.3835	0.7088	1.397 (1.332)	0.2966
Σomega-3 HPFA/AA^k	116	0.8442	−0.296 (1.010)	0.7704	0.7187	1.404 (0.642)	0.0310

^aModel adjusted for: other PUFA (see notes ^c to ^k), SOS_{year 2000}, age, menopausal status, weight, height, smoking, level of education, calcium supplements use, HRT use, oral contraceptive use, personal history of fracture (all measurements at baseline, year 2000).

^bModel adjusted for: other PUFA (see notes ^c to ^k), BUA _{year 2000}, age, menopausal status, weight, height, smoking, level of education, calcium supplement use, HRT use, oral contraceptive use, personal history of fracture (all measurements at baseline, year 2000).

^cPUFA for adjustment: Σomega-6 PUFA.

^dPUFA for adjustment: AA.

^ePUFA for adjustment: OBA.

^fPUFA for adjustment: LA.

^gPUFA for adjustment: Σomega-3 HPFA.

^hPUFA for adjustment: EPA.

ⁱPUFA for adjustment: DHA.

^jPUFA for adjustment: ALA.

^kModel adjusted for the variables indicated in notes ^a or ^b, and non-adjusted for another PUFA.