Serum Fatty Acid Compositions by Sex and Age Group in Community-dwelling Middle-aged and Elderly Japanese

Abstract

Age-related changes in blood fatty acid（FA）have been reported. This cross-sectional study examined age-related changes in serum FA composition among Japanese individuals aged 40 to 88 years（1,070 men and 1,098 women）. Venous blood was collected early in the morning after a fast of at least 12 h, and serum FA composition was expressed as a percentage of the total FA（wt％）. Participants were categorized into groups according to sex and age（40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, and≥80 years）. In both men and women, the proportion of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids（PUFAs）（wt％）including α-linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid tended to increase, whereas that of n-6 PUFAs（wt％）including linoic acid and arachidonic acid tended to decrease with older age. These results suggest that the blood FA composition differs with age among community-dwelling Japanese men and women.