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. 2017 Dec;23(14):1830-1838.
doi: 10.1177/1352458517691150. Epub 2017 Feb 3.

Polyunsaturated fatty acids and the risk of multiple sclerosis

Kjetil Bjørnevik  1 , Tanuja Chitnis  2 , Alberto Ascherio  3 , Kassandra L Munger  4
Affiliations

Polyunsaturated fatty acids and the risk of multiple sclerosis

Kjetil Bjørnevik et al. Mult Scler. 2017 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Results from previous studies on polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intake and multiple sclerosis (MS) risk are conflicting.

Objective: To prospectively investigate the association between dietary intake of PUFA and MS risk.

Methods: We followed 80,920 women from Nurses' Health Study (1984-2004) and 94,511 women from Nurses' Health Study II (1991-2009) who reported on diet using a validated food frequency questionnaire every 4 years and identified 479 incident MS cases during follow-up. We used Cox regression to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), for the effect of PUFA intake on MS risk adjusting for age, latitude of residence at age 15, ancestry, cigarette smoking, supplemental vitamin D intake, body mass index, and total energy intake.

Results: Higher intake of total PUFA at baseline was associated with a lower risk of MS (HR top vs bottom quintile: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.49-0.90, p trend = 0.01). Among the specific types of PUFA, only α-linolenic acid (ALA) was inversely associated with MS risk (HR top vs bottom quintile: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.45-0.83, p trend = 0.001). The long-chain fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were not associated with MS risk.

Conclusion: Low dietary PUFA intake may be another modifiable risk factor for MS.

Keywords: Multiple sclerosis; alpha-linolenic acid; epidemiology; polyunsaturated fatty acids; risk factors.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The hazard ratio (HR) of multiple sclerosis according to intake of α-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA) in NHS and NHS II when adjusting the intake of each fatty acid for the intake of the other fatty acid. * The figure illustrates the association between intake of ALA, LA and MS risk when ALA and LA are included in the same model. The hazard ratios are plotted on the log scale.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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