Thread by @nicknorwitz

🚨Cool New Study!

Omega-3 fats have sex-specific impacts on lipids, LDL, HDL & TG!

Thread + video breakdown...

1/ In this new paper published in the @LipidJournal, researchers performed a Double-Blinded Randomized Crossover to see how EPA & DHA imapct lipids and mean dn women

2/ The study was a has 21 subjects each with at least 1 marker of Metabolic Syndrome

There was a 4 week run-in period, followed by 10w on 3g/d of EPA or DHA, a washout period, and then the other long-chain fatty acid. Again, order was randomized and study was double-blinded...

3/ Researchers found:

(1) EPA and DHA both ⬇️ TG.

(2) EPA and DHA both ⬆️ LDL-C/ApoB ratios, suggesting more large fluffy healthy buoyant LDL-C

4/ (3) Interestingly...

👉EPA actually increased LDL-C in men, but...

👉DHA increased LDL-C in women!

This was due to sex-specific differences in activities of enzymes, with focus on Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL)

(for background if needed: )

5/ They observed that TG reductions were correlated with LPL activities and with increases in LDL-C/ApoB and HDL-C/ApoA ratios – consistent with the #LEM

AND

that "LPL activity was significantly elevated by DHA but not EPA in women" ...

6/ To reiterate, the #LEM would predict that increased activity of LPL could increase conversion of VLDL containing TG into LDL particles, and that as a result HDL-C concentration would increase as an acceptor of surface cholesterol produced by this process (above video)

7/ The author themselves write, "higher LPL activity may lead to greater hydrolysis of TG in VLDL, resulting in greater conversion to LDL and the formation of larger, more buoyant LDL particles.” @realDaveFeldman

8/ To review:

EPA and DHA BOTH ⬇️ TG

Both⬆️ LDL-C/ApoB (bigger more fluffy)

TG⬇️ TG w/ ⬆️LPL activity

Sex differences can be explained by differences in enzyme activities, e.g. DHA increases LPL activity in women, which can in part explain why LDL ⬆️ in women specifically

9/ To me, these data are not only fascinating alone, but provide a beautiful illustration of how the #LEM can be used as the foundation for expansion to better understand general lipid mechanics in humans!

10/ Links
Lipid Energy Model Video:

Lipid Energy Model paper: mdpi.com/2218-1989/12/5…

JCL Paper: reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/…

11/ Review video:

Of note, this is so fresh that the HD version is still loading... so if you're quick to the draw you get SD Nick

@realDaveFeldman @siobhan_huggins @KetoCarnivore @DoctorTro @ElieJarrougeMD @AdrianSotoMota @frankIIIowski @robertlufkinmd