Highlights
- •Omega-3 fatty acids and heart rate recovery are important for cardiovascular health.
- •We observed a significant association between the two in 13,912 healthy adults.
- •This association was independent of fitness level and was steeper in women.
- •These findings suggest a potential cardioprotective mechanism for n-3 PUFA.
Abstract
Background
Previous studies have suggested that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA)
can favorably influence cardiac autonomic tone. However, data regarding n-3 PUFA status
and heart rate recovery (HRR) in healthy adults are sparse.
Purpose
To examine the association between n-3 PUFA status and HRR.
Methods
Participants included 13,912 patients who underwent a comprehensive examination at
the Cooper Clinic, Dallas TX. Fitness was determined from a maximal exercise test.
HRR was calculated by subtracting the heart rate at 1, 3, and 5 min of an active recovery
period from the maximal heart rate. Participants were categorized as having a low
(<4%), normal (4–8%) or optimal (>8%) Omega-3 Index (O3I) (i.e., erythrocyte levels
of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids). Multiple linear regression was used
to model the association between O3I and HRR adjusting for age, maximal METs, body
mass index, and smoking by sex.
Results
Higher categories of O3I were associated with greater HRR at 1 min (men: 23.7, 23.9,
24.6 beats/min; women: 23.9, 24.6, 25.9 and 3 min (men: 52.4, 52.9, 53.6 beats/min;
women: 51.9, 53.4, 54.6), p trend <0.01 for all. Corresponding HRR at 5 min were (men:
60.0, 60.2, 60.7 beats/min, p trend=0.09; women: 59.4, 60.8, 61.6, p trend <0.001).
The HRR gradients across O3I categories were steeper in women than men at 1, 3, and
5 min (p<0.03 for all sex x O3I category interactions with HRR).
Conclusions
A direct relationship between HRR and O3I values was observed in both men and women,
with a steeper gradient in women. These findings suggest a potential cardioprotective
mechanism for n-3 PUFA.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty AcidsAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Cardiovascular risk reduction with icosapent ethyl for hypertriglyceridemia.N Engl J Med. 2019; 380: 11-22
- Eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid containing supplements modulate risk factors for cardiovascular disease: a meta-analysis of randomised placebo-control human clinical trials.J Hum Nutr Diet. 2018; 31: 67-84
- The effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on fibrin and thrombin generation in healthy subjects and subjects with cardiovascular disease.Semin Thromb Hemost. 2015; 41: 315-322
- The Omega-3 Index and relative risk for coronary heart disease mortality: estimation from 10 cohort studies.Atherosclerosis. 2017; 262: 51-54
- Blood levels of long-chain n-3 fatty acids and the risk of sudden death.N Engl J Med. 2002; 346: 1113-1118
- Effect of omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on heart rate: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Eur J Clin Nutr. 2018; 72: 805-817
- Effect of fish oil on heart rate in humans: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Circulation. 2005; 112: 1945-1952
- Marine Omega-3 Supplementation and Cardiovascular Disease: an Updated Meta-Analysis of 13 Randomized Controlled Trials Involving 127 477 Participants.J Am Heart Assoc. 2019; 8e013543
- Heart rate recovery: autonomic determinants, methods of assessment and association with mortality and cardiovascular diseases.Clin Physiol Funct Imaging. 2014; 34: 327-339
- Heart-rate recovery immediately after exercise as a predictor of mortality.N Engl J Med. 1999; 341: 1351-1357
- Heart rate recovery, exercise capacity, and mortality risk in male veterans.Eur J Prev Cardiol. 2012; 19: 177-184
- Risk of mortality increases with increasing number of abnormal non-ST parameters recorded during exercise testing.Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2010; 17: 462-468
- Relation of whole blood n-3 fatty acid levels to exercise parameters in patients with stable coronary artery disease (from the heart and soul study).Am J Cardiol. 2011; 107: 1149-1154
- An experimental study of physical fitness of Air Force personnel.U S Armed Forces Med J. 1959; 10: 675-688
- ACSM's Guidelines For Exercise Testing and Prescription.Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA2013
- Changes in erythrocyte membrane trans and marine fatty acids between 1999 and 2006 in older Americans.J Nutr. 2012; 142: 1297-1303
- Omega-3 fatty acids and cardiovascular disease: a case for omega-3 index as a new risk factor.Pharmacol. Res. 2007; 55: 217-223
- Clinical correlates and heritability of erythrocyte eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid content in the Framingham Heart Study.Atherosclerosis. 2012; 225: 425-431
- Erythrocyte omega-3 fatty acids increase and linoleic acid decreases with age: observations from 160,000 patients.Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2013; 88: 257-263
- Determinants of Blood Cell Omega-3 Fatty Acid Content.Open Biomark J. 2008; 1: 1-6
- Fish oils and plasma lipid and lipoprotein metabolism in humans: a critical review.J Lipid Res. 1989; 30: 785-807
- Cardiorespiratory fitness and heart rate recovery predict sudden cardiac death independent of ejection fraction.Heart. 2020; 106: 434-440
- Attenuated heart rate recovery after exercise testing and risk of incident hypertension in men.Am J Hypertens. 2016; 29: 1103-1108
- Autonomic function, omega-3, and cardiovascular risk.Chest. 2005; 127: 1088-1091
- Reduction of heart rate by omega-3 fatty acids and the potential underlying mechanisms.Front Physiol. 2012; 3: 416
- Omega-3 polyunsaturated Fatty acids and heart rate variability.Front Physiol. 2011; 2: 84
- The effect of fish oil supplementation on brain DHA and EPA content and fatty acid profile in mice.Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2018; 69: 705-717
- Red blood cell PUFAs reflect the phospholipid PUFA composition of major organs.Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2016; 112: 12-23
- How polyunsaturated fatty acids modify molecular organization in membranes: insight from NMR studies of model systems.Biochim Biophys Acta. 2015; 1848: 211-219
- Effects of omega-3 fatty acids on resting heart rate, heart rate recovery after exercise, and heart rate variability in men with healed myocardial infarctions and depressed ejection fractions.Am J Cardiol. 2006; 97: 1127-1130
- Intrinsic heart rate recovery after dynamic exercise is improved with an increased omega-3 index in healthy males.Br. J. Nutr. 2014; 112: 1984-1992
- Effects of omega-3 fatty acids on heart rate in cardiac transplant recipients.Am J Cardiol. 2006; 98: 1393-1395
- Erythrocyte long-chain omega-3 fatty acid levels are inversely associated with mortality and with incident cardiovascular disease: the Framingham Heart Study.J Clin Lipidol. 2018; 12 (e716): 718-727
- Marine n-3 fatty acids and prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer.N Engl J Med. 2019; 380: 23-32
- Predicting the effects of supplemental EPA and DHA on the omega-3 index.Am J Clin Nutr. 2019; 110: 1034-1040
- Whole blood omega-3 fatty acid concentrations are inversely associated with blood pressure in young, healthy adults.J Hypertens. 2018; 36: 1548-1554
- Omega-3 fatty acids and mortality in patients referred for coronary angiography. The Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health Study.Atherosclerosis. 2016; 252: 175-181
Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 13, 2020
Accepted:
November 7,
2020
Received in revised form:
October 7,
2020
Received:
July 30,
2020
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
