Table 1 Clinical characteristics and Differential fatty acid levels and desaturase activities in healthy controls and patients

Male/Female (%)

60.5/39.5

62/38

55.5/44.5

63.2/36.8

0.412

Age (year)

59.73 ± 10.06

57.74 ± 12.76

59.47 ± 10.53

60.30 ± 9.73

0.282

Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)

128.19 ± 20.59

130.90 ± 17.73

129.16 ± 18.94

131.87 ± 19.54

0.247

Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)

78.42 ± 13.75

76.64 ± 10.71

78.51 ± 12.20

78.61 ± 11.78

0.513

Total cholesterol (mmol/l)

4.43 (3.97, 4.91)

4.68 (3.99, 5.31)

4.05 (3.33, 4.64)

4.07 (3.31, 4.99)

<0.0001

Triglyceride (mmol/l)

1.01 (0.78, 1.32)

1.82 (1.21, 2.74)

1.26 (0.93, 1.60)

1.37 (1.01, 1.98)

<0.0001

HDL-cholesterol (mmol/l)

1.29 (1.12, 1.49)

1.05 (0.90, 1.20)

1.17 (0.99, 1.35)

1.03 (0.87, 1.29)

<0.0001

LDL-cholesterol (mmol/l)

2.70 (2.33, 3.05)

2.70 (2.10, 3.21)

2.42 (1.72, 2.89)

2.42 (1.84, 3,12)

<0.0001

Fasting plasma glucose (mmol/l)

4.92 (4.59, 5.33)

8.50 (6.45, 11.73)

5.68 (5.11, 6.29)

6.93 (6.03, 8.16)

<0.0001

HbA1c (%)

_

7.70 (6.50, 9.48)

_

6.70 (6.10, 7.30)

<0.0001

HbA1c (mmol/mol)

_

60.66 (47.54, 80.11)

_

49.73 (43.17, 56.28)

<0.0001

Fatty acids (%)

 Palmitic acid, C16:0

22.41 (21.40, 23.63)

23.61 (21.78, 25.34)

23.17 (21.38, 24.64)

23.40 (21.76, 24.77)

<0.0001

 Stearic acid, C18:0

9.33 (8.52, 9.98)

9.14 (7.63, 10.78)

9.16 (8.37, 9.89)

8.96 (8.14, 9.85)

0.048

 Total monounsaturated fatty acid

16.05 (14.14, 18.12)

19.27 (16.93, 21.71)

17.40 (15.47, 19.60)

18.47 (15.99, 20.65)

<0.0001

 Palmitoleic acid, C16:1

0.70 (0.52, 0.95)

0.88 (0.42, 1.50)

0.95 (0.66, 1.23)

0.90 (0.59, 1.55)

<0.0001

 Oleic acid, C18:1n-9

14.85 (13.10, 16.74)

18.29 (16.06, 20.52)

15.90 (14.29, 17.83)

17.23 (14.75, 19.65)

<0.0001

 Total polyunsaturated  n-3 fatty acid

3.65 (2.93, 4.31)

7.07 (4.42, 10.05)

3.40 (2.78, 4.00)

4.22 (3.20,7.25)

<0.0001

 α-linolenic acid, C18:3n-3

0.55 (0.35, 0.76)

0.58 (0.13, 1.08)

0.55 (0.34, 0.78)

0.65 (0.34, 0.92)

0.195

 Eicosapentaenoic acid, C20:5n-3

0.21 (0.00, 0.46)

0.87 (0.28, 1.75)

0.17 (0.00, 0.40)

0.18 (0.00, 1.17)

<0.0001

 Docosahexaenoic acid, C22:6n-3

2.72 (2.17, 3.38)

4.78 (1.95, 7.40)

2.52 (2.00, 3.12)

3.22 (2.49, 5.01)

<0.0001

 Total polyunsaturated n-6 fatty acid

46.32 (43.57, 49.04)

45.66 (42.34, 49.19)

44.37 (41.37, 47.46)

45.08 (41.69, 48.27)

<0.0001

 Linoleic acid, C18:2n-6

35.96 (32.94, 39.49)

34.63 (30.50, 40.53)

33.11 (29.66, 36.64)

32.61 (29.36, 36.47)

<0.0001

 γ-linolenic acid, C18:3n-6

0.22 (0.05, 0.42)

0.13 (0.00, 0.37)

0.32 (0.10, 0.57)

0.17 (0.00, 0.49)

<0.0001

 Dihomo-γ-linolenic acid, C20:3n-6

1.35 (1.07, 1.63)

1.37 (0.16, 2.13)

1.54 (1.18, 2.03)

1.63 (1.03, 2.40)

<0.0001

 Arachidonic acid, C20:4n-6

7.98 (6.68, 9.43)

7.59 (3.97, 10.82)

7.92 (6.28, 9.70)

9.18 (6.67, 11.27)

<0.0001

Desaturase activity

 C20:4n-6/C20:3n-6 (D5D)

6.22 (4.61, 7.67)

5.11 (3.71, 8.26)

5.23 (3.39, 7.60)

5.07 (3.47, 7.75)

0.051

 C20:4n-6/C18:2n-6 (D6D)

0.22 (0.18, 0.27)

0.22 (0.10, 0.35)

0.24 (0.19, 0.31)

0.28 (0.19, 0.36)

<0.0001

 C16:1/C16:0 (D9D-16)

0.03 (0.02, 0.04)

0.04 (0.02, 0.07)

0.04 (0.03, 0.05)

0.04 (0.03, 0.06)

0.002

 C18:1n-9/C18:0(D9D-18)

1.62 (1.39, 1.90)

1.97 (1.58, 2.42)

1.77 (1.49, 2.06)

1.94 (1.67, 2.29)

<0.0001

 n-3/n-6

0.08 (0.06, 0.10)

0.16 (0.09, 0.23)

0.08 (0.06, 0.09)

0.10 (0.07, 0.17)

<0.0001