Polyunsaturated fatty acid intake and incidence of type 2 diabetes in adults: a dose response meta-analysis of cohort studies

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the association and dose–response relationship between polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intake and incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in adults. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched for cohort studies that examined the association between PUFA and T2D incidence published up to September 6, 2021. Relative risk (RR) or hazard ratio (HR) was used as the effect indicator, each effect size was expressed by 95% confidence interval (CI). The presence of heterogeneity of effect size between studies was assessed by the Q-test and I(2) statistics. If I(2) ≥ 50%, the random-effects model was applied, otherwise the fixed effects model was used. Sensitivity analysis was performed for all models. Potential publication bias was assessed. We conducted linear and nonlinear dose–response meta-analyses, calculated summary relative risk (SRR). RESULTS: Twenty-five articles were selected including 54,000 patients in this study. Our estimates observed no linear associations between total PUFA and the incidence of T2D. However, the summary dose–response curve of T2D risk increased in a nonlinear pattern with the consumption of omega-3 PUFA (P(nonlinearity) < 0.001) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (P(nonlinearity) = 0.040). Our subgroup analysis showed that total PUFA intake was associated with increased incidence of T2D in Europe (RR: 1.040, 95% CI 1.009 to 1.072), and Australia (RR: 1.188, 95% CI 1.113 to 1.269). However, total PUFA intake was associated with decreased T2D incidence in Asia (RR: 0.897, 95% CI 0.860 to 0.936). Subgroup analysis based on PUFA types showed that DHA intake was associated with decreased T2D incidence (RR: 1.164, 95% CI 1.048 to 1.294) while linoleic acid (LA) decreased T2D incidence (RR: 0.956, 95% CI 0.930 to 0.983). Regarding the sex subgroup, women’s intake of total PUFA would increase the risk of T2D (RR: 1.049, 95% CI 1.019 to 1.079) while total PUFA intake decreased the risk of T2D in men (RR: 0.955, 95% CI 0.913 to 0.999). CONCLUSION: For specific PUFA, dose–response curves show nonlinear significant associations between PUFA intakes and T2D. It may be necessary to pay attention to the effects of PUFA and type of intake on T2D. Trial registration Not applicable SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13098-022-00804-1.