Association between trans fatty acid intake and cardiovascular risk factors in Europe: The TRANSFAIR study:

• Main Authors: Vijver, L.P.L. van de, Kardinaal, A.F.M., Couet, C., Aro, A., Kafatos, A., Steingrimsdottir, L., Amorim Cruz, J.A., Moreiras, O., Becker, W., Amelsvoort, J.M.M. van, Vidal-Jessel, S., Salminen, I., Moschandreas, J., Sigfússon, N., Martins, I., Carbajal, A., Ytterfors, A., Poppel, G. van
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2000
• Subjects: fatty acid; high density lipoprotein; low density lipoprotein; adult; aged; article; cardiovascular disease; cholesterol blood level; controlled study; disease association; Europe; fat intake; female; food intake; human; lipid blood level; lipid composition; major clinical study; male; risk factor; trans isomer; Adipose Tissue; Cardiovascular Diseases; Cholesterol; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diet Records; Dietary Fats; Energy Intake; Fatty Acids; Humans; Isomerism; Linear Models; Lipids; Lipoproteins; HDL; LDL; Middle Aged; Risk Factors; Iceland
• Online Access: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:dbc641dc-e990-4d95-9092-a2d6ce3b3dc3

Background: High intakes of trans fatty acids (TFA) have been found to exert an undersirable effect on serum lipid profiles, and thus may increase the risk for cardiovascular disease. Objective: Investigation of the association between TFA intake and serum lipids. Design: Cross-sectional study in eight European countries (Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden) among 327 men and 299 women (50-65 y). Using a dietary history method, food consumption was assessed and TFA intake was calculated with recent figures on TFA levels of foods, collected in the TRANSFAIR study. Results: Mean (±s.d.) TFA intake was 2.40 ± 1.53 g/day for men and 1.98±1.49 g/day for women (0.87±0.48% and 0.95±0.55% of energy, respectively), with the highest consumption in Iceland and the lowest in the Mediterranean countries. No associations were found between total TFA intake and LDL, HDL or LDL/HDL ratio after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors. Additional adjustment for other fatty acid clusters resulted in a significant inverse trend between total TFA intake and total cholesterol (P(trend)<0.03). The most abundantly occuring TFA isomer, C18:1 t, contributed substantially to this inverse association. The TFA isomers C14:1 t9, C16:1 t9 and C22:1 t were not associated or were positively associated with LDL or total cholesterol. Conclusions: From this study we conclude that at the current European intake levels of trans fatty acids they are not associated with an unfavourable serum lipid profile.