Erythrocyte Membrane Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Are Associated with Incidence of Metabolic Syndrome in Middle-Aged and Elderly People–An 8.8-Year Prospective Study

The total and specific types of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) related to metabolic syndrome (MetS) remain inconsistent. We assessed the association of erythrocyte n–3 and n–6 PUFAs with MetS and the components of MetS in a cohort population. This prospective analysis included 2754 participants (aged 40–75 y) from the Guangzhou Nutrition and Health Study (2008–2019) in China. Erythrocyte PUFAs at baseline were measured using gas chromatography. MetS was assessed every 3 y according to the updated National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate HRs and 95% CIs. We identified 716 incident cases of MetS. The primary analyses showed that the HRs (95% CIs) of MetS (tertile 3 versus 1) were 0.67 (0.56, 0.80) for n–3 PUFAs and 0.70 (0.58, 0.85) for n–6 PUFAs (all Ps trend