Increased erythrocytes n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids is significantly associated with a lower prevalence of steatosis in patients with type 2 diabetes.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is commonly associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Although dietary fat contributes substantially to the accumulation of liver fat, the role of individual fatty acids in this accumulation is unclear.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we set out to determine whether liver fat content (LFC), was associated with red blood cell fatty acid (RBC-FA) composition in people with type 2 diabetes.

DESIGN, SETTINGS, AND PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and sixty-two type 2 diabetic patients were included in this study. LFC was measured using (1)H-MR Spectroscopy. RBC-FA composition was measured by gas chromatography.

RESULTS

One hundred and nine (67.2%) patients had steatosis. Patients with steatosis had a higher BMI (p = 0.0005), and higher plasma triglyceride levels (p = 0.009) than did patients without steatosis. We report a significant association between palmitic acid (16:0), palmitoleic acid (16:1n-7) concentrations and ratio of monounsaturated to saturated fatty acid (palmitoleic acid to palmitic acid) and higher liver fat content. Total polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), homo-gamma-linolenic acid (20:3n-6), docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3), and arachidonic acid (20:4 n-6) were associated with lower LFC.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data showed that an increased erythrocytes long-chain n-3 and n-6 fatty acids was associated with a lower prevalence of steatosis in patients with type 2 diabetes. These results suggest that n-3 and n-6 fatty acids supplementation could be a promising treatment for NAFLD in patients with type 2 diabetes.