Association between plasma fatty acids and inflammatory markers in patients with and without insulin resistance and in secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Proinflammatory biomarkers levels are increased among patients with cardiovascular disease, and it is known that both the presence of insulin resistance and diet may influence those levels. However, these associations are not well studied among patients with established cardiovascular disease. Our objective is to compare inflammatory biomarker levels among cardiovascular disease secondary prevention patients with and without insulin resistance, and to evaluate if there is any association between plasma fatty acid levels and inflammatory biomarker levels among them. METHODS: In this cross-sectional sub-study from the BALANCE Program Trial, we collected data from 359 patients with established cardiovascular disease. Plasma fatty acids and inflammatory biomarkers (interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), adiponectin, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha) were measured. Biomarkers and plasma fatty acid levels of subjects across insulin resistant and not insulin resistant groups were compared, and general linear models were used to examine the association between plasma fatty acids and inflammatory biomarkers. RESULTS: Subjects with insulin resistance had a higher concentration of hs-CRP (p = 0.002) and IL-6 (p = 0.002) than subjects without insulin resistance. Among subjects without insulin resistance there was a positive association between stearic fatty acid and IL-6 (p = 0.032), and a negative association between alpha-linolenic fatty acid and pro-inflammatory biomarkers (p < 0.05). Among those with insulin resistance there was a positive association between monounsaturated fatty acids and arachidonic fatty acid and adiponectin (p < 0.05), and a negative association between monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids and pro-inflammatory biomarkers (p < 0.05), as well as a negative association between polyunsaturated fatty acids and adiponectin (p < 0.05). Our study has not found any association between hs-CRP and plasma fatty acids. CONCLUSIONS: Subjects in secondary prevention for cardiovascular disease with insulin resistance have a higher concentration of hs-CRP and IL-6 than individuals without insulin resistance, and these inflammatory biomarkers are positively associated with saturated fatty acids and negatively associated with unsaturated fatty acids. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12937-018-0342-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.