BIOLOGICAL VARIABILITY IN THE OMEGA-3 INDEX

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Omega-3 fatty acids are important nutrients found in fish oils that have recently been shown to reduce risk for heart attacks and possibly neuropsychiatric diseases. The Omega-3 Index is a potential, new risk factor for these diseases. It is measured in human blood, and is a shorthand term for the amount of omega-3 fatty acids carried in red blood cell membranes. Much remains to be learned about the factors that influence the omega-3 index. One factor that is not known is how much this blood marker varies in normal people eating normal diets; this is called "biological variation". While the analytical variability of this test has been defined, its biological variation has not, but it needs to be before this new blood test can be used clinically. This study will involve recruiting 20 healthy subjects and drawing blood from them every week for 6 weeks. Both the red blood cells and the plasma will be isolated, and the omega-3 fatty acid levels measured in each. Statistical tests will then be used to define the biological variation for both of these tissues. The results will be published in a medical journal.