Association of elevated individual FFAs (molecular percentage, %) with inflammatory biomarkers
| High FFA and cytokine/adipokine* | Quartile 1 n=338 | Quartile 2 n=349 | Quartile 3 n=343 | Quartile 4 n=338 | AOR (95% CI)† | P for trend |
| Myristic acid (≥2.28 vs <2.28) | % | % | % | % | ||
| IL-6 | 30.9 | 27.5 | 21.6 | 20.1 | 0.58 (0.40 to 0.83) | <0.0001 |
| IL-8 | 35.8 | 27.1 | 20.6 | 16.5 | 0.37 (0.25 to 0.54) | <0.0001 |
| TNF-α | 33.4 | 23.8 | 26.9 | 15.9 | 0.40 (0.27 to 0.59) | <0.0001 |
| Resistin | 19.3 | 27.5 | 26.5 | 26.2 | 1.30 (0.89 to 1.88) | NS |
| Palmitoleic acid (≥3.09 vs <3.09) | ||||||
| IL-6 | 24.2 | 28.3 | 27.1 | 20.4 | 0.67 (0.46 to 0.98) | <0.05 |
| IL-8 | 31.4 | 26.9 | 26.6 | 15.1 | 0.36 (0.24 to 0.55) | <0.0001 |
| TNF-α | 22.6 | 27.3 | 34.1 | 16.0 | 0.56 (0.38 to 0.84) | <0.05 |
| Resistin | 29.2 | 25.4 | 24.5 | 20.9 | 0.55 (0.38 to 0.80) | <0.001 |
| α-Linolenic acid (≥0.71 vs <0.71) | ||||||
| IL-6 | 31.3 | 23.0 | 26.2 | 19.5 | 0.50 (0.35 to 0.72) | <0.001 |
| IL-8 | 28.6 | 25.4 | 25.1 | 20.8 | 0.67 (0.47 to 0.96) | <0.05 |
| TNF-α | 27.8 | 25.7 | 27.8 | 18.8 | 0.62 (0.43 to 0.89) | <0.05 |
| Resistin | 23.9 | 27.1 | 24.1 | 25.0 | 0.91 (0.64 to 1.29) | NS |
| Oleic acid (≥30.58 vs <30.58) | ||||||
| IL-6 | 24.1 | 24.9 | 29.8 | 21.2 | 0.75 (0.52 to 1.09) | NS |
| IL-8 | 28.7 | 27.5 | 26.9 | 16.8 | 0.50 (0.34 to 0.73) | <0.001 |
| TNF-α | 25.8 | 25.5 | 30.1 | 18.6 | 0.62 (0.43 to 0.90) | <0.05 |
| Resistin | 26.7 | 28.6 | 26.4 | 18.6 | 0.52 (0.36 to 0.76) | <0.001 |
| DGLA (≥1.73 vs <1.73) | ||||||
| IL-6 | 23.5 | 25.5 | 25.8 | 25.2 | 1.08 (0.76 to 1.55) | NS |
| IL-8 | 17.9 | 23.2 | 29.1 | 29.7 | 2.06 (1.42 to 2.98) | <0.0001 |
| TNF-α | 19.5 | 25.1 | 25.7 | 29.8 | 1.83 (1.28 to 2.63) | <0.01 |
| Resistin | 20.8 | 23.2 | 30.5 | 25.5 | 1.22 (0.85 to 1.76) | NS |
| Palmitic acid (≥37.56 vs <37.56) | ||||||
| IL-6 | 22.5 | 24.4 | 23.8 | 29.5 | 1.49 (1.05 to 2.12) | <0.05 |
| IL-8 | 23.7 | 22.2 | 23.7 | 30.3 | 1.51 (1.07 to 2.15) | <0.05 |
| TNF-α | 25.5 | 22.4 | 23.6 | 28.5 | 1.22 (0.86 to 1.73) | NS |
| Resistin | 17.3 | 24.1 | 27.1 | 31.6 | 2.20 (1.40 to 2.92) | <0.0001 |
| EPA (≥0.16 vs <0.16) | ||||||
| IL-6 | 22.7 | 23.9 | 24.5 | 29.0 | 1.47 (1.03 to 2.11) | <0.05 |
| IL-8 | 21.2 | 23.7 | 24.9 | 30.2 | 1.76 (1.22 to 2.54) | <0.01 |
| TNF-α | 23.4 | 25.9 | 24.9 | 25.9 | 1.26 (0.87 to 1.81) | NS |
| Resistin | 18.7 | 26.6 | 27.8 | 26.9 | 1.34 (0.92 to 1.95) | NS |
*High FFA was defined as the highest quartile of FFA.
†Models were adjusted for maternal age, pre-pregnant body mass index (BMI), parity, ethnicity and cigarette smoking. AOR was estimated for patients who were in the highest quartile of FFA versus other quartiles pooled, association with inflammatory biomarkers in the top quartile using the lowest quartile as reference.
AOR, adjusted OR;DGLA, dihomo-γ-linolenic acid; EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid; FFA, free fatty acid; IL, interleukin; NS, not significant; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor alpha;