Effect of dietary omega-3 fatty acids on high-density lipoprotein apolipoprotein AI kinetics in type II diabetes mellitus

The effect of a dietary fish oil supplementation on metabolism of HDL was studied in type II diabetes mellitus. Endogenous labeling of HDL-apo AI was performed using a 14 h primed infusion of D3-leucine in five diabetic patients before and 2 months after treatment with maxEPA®. Isotopic enrichment curves were analyzed using a monoexponential function. After treatment, plasma cholesterol level remained unchanged (205.4±41.9 vs. 206.8±30.7 mg/dl, NS), whereas plasma triglycerides were decreased (155.4±67.9 vs. 202.6±32.2 mg/dl, P=0.06). Plasma apo AI was similar under maxEPA® (116.0±25.6 vs. 111.8±25.4 mg/dl, NS), and HDL-cholesterol and HDL-triglycerides were also not markedly changed (30.2±10.0 vs. 27.1±10 mg/dl, and 15.3±9.8 vs. 19.2±10.4 mg/dl, NS). HDL-apo AI fractional catabolic rate (FCR) and absolute production rate (APR) were significantly decreased after treatment with maxEPA® (0.27±0.09 vs. 0.37±0.08 pool day, P<0.05, and 12.1±2.8 vs. 16.1±3.3 mg/kg per day, P<0.05). These findings showed an effect of maxEPA® on kinetics of apolipoprotein AI in type II diabetes mellitus, probably linked to changes in plasma triglyceride level.