Distress, Fish Oil, Inflammation, and Heart Disease

描述(申请人提供)：精神困扰，包括抑郁，和冠心病(CHD)仍然是导致发病率和死亡率的主要原因。此外，心理困扰本身似乎也会增加患冠心病的风险。然而，心理困扰与冠心病之间的生物学机制(S)仍然知之甚少。最近的证据表明，饮食中摄入不足的鱼油(供应omega-3脂肪酸)会导致心理困扰和冠心病。这项拟议的研究将利用结构方程模型来测试一个假设的模型，该模型假设心理困扰和CHD具有共同的因果因素-饮食omega-3脂肪酸缺乏-其中慢性全身炎症作为中介变量。受试者将是300名健康的社区志愿者；他们已经参与了一项资助的调查(HL40962)。申请的赠款将：a)支持通过首席研究员和Jeffrey姚博士之间的新合作而实现的磷脂脂肪酸组成、白细胞介素6和C反应蛋白的额外分析，以及b)支持使用结构方程建模的生物统计分析。这项研究的结果可能会改变目前对心理因素和冠心病风险之间关系的概念化，并导致测试新干预措施的随机临床试验。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Psychological distress, including depression, and coronary heart disease (CHD) remain major causes of morbidity and mortality. Furthermore, psychological distress, itself, appears to increase the risk of CHD. However, the biological mechanism(s) through which psychological distress and CHD are related remain poorly understood. Recent evidence implicates deficient dietary consumption of fish oil (supplying omega-3 fatty acids) in both psychological distress and CHD. The proposed research would utilize structural equation modeling to test a hypothesized model positing that psychological distress and CHD share a causal factor - dietary omega-3 fatty acid deficiency - in which chronic, systemic inflammation serves as the mediating variable. Subjects will be 300 healthy community volunteers; already participating in a funded investigation (HL40962). The requested grant would: a) support additional assays of phospholipid fatty acid composition, interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein made possible through a new collaboration between the principal investigator and Dr. Jeffrey Yao, and b) support biostatistical analysis using structural equation modeling. Results of the study could redirect current conceptualizations of the relationship between psychological factors and CHD risk, and lead to randomized clinical trials testing new interventions.