Circulating Fatty Acids and Genetic Predisposition to Type 2 Diabetes: Gene-Nutrient Interaction Analysis

What is it about?

It remains unclear how specific fatty acids (FAs) affect type 2 diabetes (T2D) development and summary of existing evidence challenges prevailing dietary guidelines that emphasize replacing saturated fatty acids (SFAs) with monounsaturated (MUFAs) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Importantly, the metabolic effects of dietary fats may vary significantly between individuals due to gene-nutrient interactions. However, no evidence supports genetic personalization of fat intake recommendations in T2D prevention. Here, by exploring the relationship of circulating biomarkers of FAs exposure and genetic predisposition with T2D development in the UK Biobank (n=95,854), we show that increasing plasma n-6 and n-3 PUFAs while decreasing SFAs levels could be beneficial for primary prevention of T2D and also reveal the effects of plasma MUFAs and n-3 PUFAs are significantly modified by genetic risk profile. These findings generally support current dietary recommendations but also emphasize that personalized approaches on improving plasma FAs profiles for T2D prevention should be tailored according to individuals’ genetic profiles.

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