Increased dietary α-linolenic acid has sex-specific effects upon eicosapentaenoic acid status in humans: re-examination of data from a randomised, placebo-controlled, parallel study

Table 1 Characteristics of participants in the study according to diet

	1.5 g/d ALA		9.5 g/d ALA		P value
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Sex	Diet	Sex*diet
	(n = 11)	(n = 10)	(n = 13)	(n = 10)
Age (y)	52.9 ± 13.7	53.0 ± 11.2	50.5 ± 12.7	53.5 ± 12.0	0.68	0.80	0.70
Weight (kg)	82.3 ± 8.8	62.9 ± 7.4*	84.7 ± 14.3	69.9 ± 9.2*	<0.001	0.15	0.47
BMI (kg/m²)	26.4 ± 2.7	24.2 ± 3.1	27.3 ± 3.9	25.6 ± 2.6	0.053	0.24	0.82
ALA dose per kg body weight (mg/d)	18.4 ± 1.9	24.2 ± 2.6*	115.5 ± 22.0^†	137.8 ± 16.8^†*	0.003	<0.001	0.067
Baseline plasma phospholipid n-3 fatty acid status (% total fatty acids)
ALA (18:3n-3)	0.3 ± 0.1	0.4 ± 0.1	0.3 ± 0.1	0.3 ± 0.1	0.63	0.20	0.75
EPA (20:5n-3)	0.9 ± 0.8	1.1 ± 0.9	0.8 ± 0.6	0.8 ± 0.5	0.55	0.48	0.73
DPA (22:5n-3)	2.1 ± 1.5	1.6 ± 0.7	1.9 ± 0.7	1.8 ± 0.9	0.34	0.98	0.63
DHA (22:6n-3)	4.4 ± 1.3	4.2 ± 1.3	3.5 ± 1.0	3.2 ± 0.9	0.63	0.008	0.86

Data are mean ± SD.
*Significantly different from males in same dietary group (p < 0.05, independent mean t-test). ^†Significant effect of diet within same sex (p < 0.05, independent mean t-test).

ISSN: 1475-2891