Red Blood Cell Omega-6 Fatty Acids and Biomarkers of Inflammation in the Framingham Offspring Study

Chronic inflammation is recognized as an important risk factor for a variety of health dis-orders. Omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-6 PUFAs), particularly linoleic (LA) and arachidonic acid (AA), have been shown to be either pro- or anti-inflammatory, and re-searchers have advocated both for and against reducing their dietary intake. This study sought to correlate the levels of ten inflammation-related biomarkers across multiple pathways with red blood cell (RBC) membrane levels of the major dietary and circulating n-6 PUFAs. This study included 2,777 participants (mean age 66±9 years, 54% women, 9.8% minorities) from the Framingham Offspring and minority-enriched Omni Cohorts. After multivariable adjustment, RBC LA was inversely correlated (all p≤0.05) with five markers of inflammation, receptors, or pathways: C-reactive protein (r=-0.06); soluble in-terleukin-6 (r=-0.15); intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (r=-0.09); monocyte chemoattract-ant protein-1, and (r=-0.07); P-selectin (r=-0.07). RBC AA was inversely correlated (all p≤0.05) with soluble interleukin-6 (r=-0.10); intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (r=-0.14); monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, and (r=-0.06); and osteoprotegerin (r=-0.07). Lipo-protein associated phospholipase A2 mass and activity, urinary isoprostanes, and tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 were not significantly correlated with LA or AA. In our large community-based study, we observed weak but statistically significant inverse associa-tions between several types of inflammatory biomarkers with RBC n-6 PUFAs. Our find-ings do not support the hypothesis that omega-6 fatty acids are proinflammatory.