School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition and the Centre for Indigenous People's Nutrition and Environment, McGill University, C.I.N.E. building, 21,111 Lakeshore Road, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Montreal, Quebec, H9X 3V9, Canada.
Food Funct. 2011 Jul;2(7):381-5. doi: 10.1039/c1fo10051c. Epub 2011 Jun 28.
Impaired fatty acid synthesis was noted in iron deficient animal models. Human data, however, are scarce. Although Canadian Inuit have a traditional diet rich in heme iron and long chain n-3 fatty acids, recent literature has also indicated the presence of prevalent iron deficiency. We aimed to explore whether the presence of iron deficiency would affect fatty acid status and an estimate of the activity of desaturase 5 (Δ5), which is crucial in the biosynthesis of highly unsaturated n-3 fatty acids among Canadian Inuit. Erythrocyte membrane fatty acid composition was utilized as an indicator of fatty acid status and serum ferritin and circulating hemoglobin level were measured as the indicators of iron status. Data analyzed were collected among 1511 Canadian Inuit adult participants in the International Polar Year Inuit Health Survey, 2007-2008. Only 13.7% of survey participants had iron deficiency; however, serum ferritin showed a moderate positive association with highly unsaturated n-3 fatty acids after adjusting for age, waist and C-reactive protein (r = 0.172, P < .0001). Serum ferritin correlated significantly with Δ5 after further adjusting for highly unsaturated n-3 fatty acids (r = 0.126, P < .0001). Although the current study only demonstrated a weak link between ferritin and Δ5, the latter association underscores a possible health risk caused by a nutrient interaction related to reduced iron intake and decreased highly unsaturated n-3 fatty acid biosynthesis. Future studies are recommended to evaluate iron status in relation to highly unsaturated n-3 fatty acid biosynthesis and status among indigenous people undergoing rapid dietary transitions.
在缺铁动物模型中观察到脂肪酸合成受损。然而，人类数据很少。尽管加拿大因纽特人传统饮食富含血红素铁和长链 n-3 脂肪酸，但最近的文献也表明存在普遍的缺铁现象。我们旨在探讨缺铁是否会影响脂肪酸状况，并评估去饱和酶 5（Δ5）的活性，这对于加拿大因纽特人的高度不饱和 n-3 脂肪酸生物合成至关重要。红细胞膜脂肪酸组成被用作脂肪酸状况的指标，血清铁蛋白和循环血红蛋白水平被测量作为铁状况的指标。分析的数据是在 2007-2008 年国际极地年因纽特人健康调查中收集的 1511 名加拿大因纽特成年参与者中收集的。只有 13.7%的调查参与者有缺铁；然而，血清铁蛋白在调整年龄、腰围和 C 反应蛋白后与高度不饱和 n-3 脂肪酸呈中度正相关(r = 0.172，P <.0001)。进一步调整高度不饱和 n-3 脂肪酸后，血清铁蛋白与Δ5显著相关(r = 0.126，P <.0001)。尽管目前的研究仅显示铁蛋白与Δ5之间存在微弱联系，但后者的关联强调了与铁摄入减少和高度不饱和 n-3 脂肪酸生物合成减少相关的营养相互作用可能导致健康风险。建议未来的研究评估铁状况与高度不饱和 n-3 脂肪酸生物合成和快速饮食转变过程中的土著人民的状况之间的关系。
