Biomarkers of fatty acids and risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies

Abstract

We aimed to quantify and generate comprehensive evidence on the associations of different fatty acids (FAs) with the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). PubMed, MEDLINE, and Embase were searched for prospective cohort studies that examined the association between FA biomarkers and the risk of T2DM published before 18 May 2020. Random-effects meta-analyses of the effects of FA concentration on T2DM were performed. Thirty-three studies involving 95,810 adults (19,904 cases) were included. Divergent associations of different types of FAs with type 2 diabetes were observed. The pooled relative risk (RRs) of T2DM comparing the top versus the bottom tertile of saturated FAs (C14:0, C16:0, C18:0, total saturated FAs), monounsaturated FA (C16:1 n-7), polyunsaturated FA (C20:3 n-6, C22:4 n-6), and Δ-6-desaturase activities ranged from 1.19 to 1.80. Interestingly, unlike previous studies, we found a negative correlation between odd-chain saturated FAs (C15:0, C17:0), trans-FAs (trans-C16:1 n-7), total n-6, Δ-5-desaturase activities and risk of T2DM. The pooled RRs of T2DM comparing the top versus the bottom tertile of these FAs ranged from 0.62 to 0.78. No associations with T2DM were observed for the other FAs. Considerable heterogeneity was observed in our study, and no definitive conclusions can be made until further investigation has been carried out.

KEYWORDS:

• Biomarkers
• fatty acids
• meta-analysis
• systematic review
• type 2 diabetes mellitus

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Authors’ contributions

Z.Q.Z. and W.B. contributed to the study conception and design. G.D.C., Y.L., F.F.Z., and G.F.D. conducted the study selection and data extraction. G.D.C., Y.L., Z.Q.Z., J.W., and J.J.L. checked the data and conducted the analysis. G.D.C. and Z.Q.Z. drafted the manuscript, which was critically revised for important intellectual content by Y.X.S., Y.M.C., M.L.M., Z.P.L., and W.B. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript. Z.Q.Z. is the guarantor.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81502798); Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China (No. 2015A030310399); Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 2019A1515110163); Foundation of Bureau of Science and Technology of Foshan City (No. 1920001000294).