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Table 3 Comparison of the fatty acid composition (per cent of total fatty acids) in serum phospholipids between the Mediterranean Diet (MD) group and the Control Diet (CD) group.

From: Fat intake and composition of fatty acids in serum phospholipids in a randomized, controlled, Mediterranean dietary intervention study on patients with rheumatoid arthritis

 

MD group (n = 26)

CD group (n = 25)

P-value*

 

Time (weeks after dietary shift)

Time (weeks after start of study)

 
 

0

3

12

0

3

12

 

16:0

28.3 (23.6–31.0)

29.0 (24.6–32.2)

27.8 (25.3–31.3)

28.9 (27.2–31.7)

29.4 (27.1–32.3)

29.8 (26.6–32.1)

0.797

18:0

14.5 (13.1–15.2)

13.7 (12.2–15.3)

13.7 (12.4–15.7)

15.0 (13.2–17.1)

14.6 (13.3–16.5)

15.0 (13.3–17.0)

0.584

20:0

0.0 (0.0–0.1)

0.0 (0.0–0.2)

0.0 (0.0–0.3)†

0.0 (0.0–0.2)

0.0 (0.0–0.2)

0.0 (0.0–0.2)

0.100

24:0

1.4 (1.0–2.2)

1.4 (1.0–1.9)

1.6 (1.1–2.0)

1.4 (1.0–1.6)

1.1 (0.8–1.7)

1.3 (0.8–1.8)

0.959

Total saturated fatty acids

44.0 (39.1–46.8)

44.7 (37.8–48.3)

43.9 (39.6–49.4)

45.6 (41.4–49.9)

45.6 (41.1–49.1)

46.0 (42.7–49.9)

0.705

16:1n-7

0.8 (0.6–0.9)

0.7 (0.6–0.8)

0.8 (0.6–0.9)

0.7 (0.6–1.1)

0.8 (0.6–0.9)

0.8 (0.6–1.0)

0.339

18:1n-7

1.7 (1.3–1.8)

2.0 (1.4–2.2)

1.8 (1.6–2.0)

1.7 (1.3–1.9)

1.7 (1.5–2.1)

1.8 (1.5–2.0)

0.557

18:1n-9

9.9 (8.2–10.9)

9.7 (8.3–11.2)

9.4 (7.3–10.6)

10.2 (8.3–11.1)

10.6 (8.9–11.5)

10.9 (8.3–11.5)

0.087

22:1n-11

0.6 (0.2–1.6)

0.6 (0.2–1.5)

0.8 (0.8–1.8)

0.6 (0.0–1.3)

0.3 (0.0–1.0)

0.6 (0.0–1.1)

0.356

Total monounsaturated fatty acids

13.1 (11.4–13.8)

12.8 (11.2–14.6)

12.6 (11.3–13.8)

13.3 (11.8–14.4)

13.6 (11.6–14.7)

13.9 (11.4–15.0)

0.207

18:2n-6

16.7 (11.5–19.9)

16.5 (10.7–18.6)

14.4 (11.0–16.9)

16.0 (12.5–19.2)

16.7 (12.8–18.1)

17.0 (13.5–19.5)

0.044

20:2n-6

0.4 (0.2–0.7)

0.3 (0.2–0.5)

0.4 (0.2–0.6)

0.3 (0.2–0.5)

0.3 (0.2–0.5)

0.4 (0.3–0.6)

0.458

20:3n-6

2.6 (1.8–3.2)

2.5 (1.7–3.0)

2.2 (1.6–2.6)‡

2.1 (1.5–3.1)

2.2 (1.7–2.8)

2.4 (1.8–3.1)

0.003

20:4n-6

6.9 (5.0–7.7)

6.8 (4.8–8.2)

6.6 (4.1–8.0)

5.9 (4.1–9.8)

6.6 (4.2–8.5)

6.5 (4.8–8.7)

0.144

Total n-6 fatty acids

25.2 (18.9–30.7)

26.8 (17.5–30.0)

23.8 (17.6–28.3)†

24.4 (18.4–32.2)

25.1 (19.3–29.9)

25.2 (21.5–30.5)

0.008

18:3n-3

0.3 (0.0–0.4)

0.2 (0.0–0.4)

0.4 (0.0–0.4)

0.3 (0.2–0.4)

0.3 (0.1–0.5)

0.3 (0.0–0.5)

0.395

20:5n-3

1.4 (1.1–1.8)

1.8 (1.1–2.8)

2.1 (1.4–3.3)§

1.1 (1.0–1.5)

1.1 (1.0–1.7)

1.1 (0.9–1.4)

<0.001

22:5n-3

0.7 (0.2–1.7)

0.6 (0.2–1.4)

0.8 (0.2–1.7)

0.5 (0.2–1.3)

0.6 (0.2–1.0)

0.6 (0.3–1.0)

0.395

22:6n-3

3.9 (2.2–4.8)

4.2 (3.1–6.6)

5.0 (2.5–7.2)§

3.0 (1.5–4.3)

3.5 (1.7–4.2)

3.0 (2.2–4.5)

<0.001

Total n-3 fatty acids

6.1 (5.2–7.4)

7.3 (5.3–10.0)

8.6 (6.0–11.7)§

5.2 (4.3–7.0)

4.9 (3.7–6.4)

5.2 (3.8–7.0)

0.001

n-6:n-3 ratio

4.2 (3.0–5.6)

3.1 (2.7–3.7)

2.5 (2.1–3.5)‡

4.6 (3.6–5.6)

4.4 (3.4–5.6)

4.9 (4.1–5.6)

0.002

Total polyunsaturated fatty acids

32.7 (25.9–38.4)

33.5 (24.4–40.1)

32.4 (22.7–39.0)

29.3 (22.3–37.5)

31.0 (24.0–36.6)

30.9 (25.7–37.4)

0.072

  1. Data are presented as medians (25th–75th percentiles). *The p-values refer to differences between the MD- and the CD group concerning the change from baseline to week 12. Differences between the groups were analyzed with the Mann-Whitney U test. Statistically significant change from baseline to week 12: †p < 0.05, ‡p < 0.01, §p < 0.001. Within-group differences in week 12 compared to baseline were evaluated by the Wilcoxon signed ranks test.
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Nutrition & Metabolism

ISSN: 1743-7075

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