Odds ratios for developing ulcerative colitis by quartile of intake of specific polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)
| Macro-nutrient | Quartile of increasing intake | Quartile range | Unadjusted ORs (plus 95% CIs) for quartiles of intake* | Adjusted ORs (plus 95% CIs) for quartiles of intake† | Adjusted ORs (plus 95% CIs) for quartiles of intake‡ | |
| Women | Men | |||||
| Linoleic acid (n-6 PUFA) (g/day) | 1 (27, 131)§ | 1.9–6.1 | 3.1–7.8 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| 2 (31, 126) | 6.2–8.8 | 7.9–11.3 | 1.21 (0.68 to 2.17) | 1.38 (0.74 to 2.56) | 1.46 (0.72 to 2.93) | |
| 3 (26, 132) | 8.9–12.5 | 11.4–14.8 | 1.00 (0.54 to 1.85) | 1.20 (0.61 to 2.38) | 1.24 (0.57 to 2.72) | |
| 4 (41, 115) | 12.6–37.5 | 14.9–35.4 | 1.85 (1.03 to 3.32) | 2.49 (1.23 to 5.07) | 2.31 (0.99 to 5.36) | |
| Trend OR = 1.19 (0.99 to 1.45, p = 0.07) | Trend OR = 1.32 (1.04 to 1.66, p = 0.02) | Trend OR = 1.28 (0.97 to 1.68, p = 0.08) | ||||
| α-Linolenic acid (n-3 PUFA) (g/day) | 1 (33, 125) | 0.4–0.9 | 0.5–1.0 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| 2 (24, 133) | 1.0–1.2 | 1.1–1.5 | 0.68 (0.38 to 1.23) | 0.78 (0.41 to 1.47) | 0.73 (0.34 to 1.58) | |
| 3 (33, 125) | 1.3–1.6 | 1.6–2.0 | 1.00 (0.57 to 1.75) | 1.22 (0.63 to 2.39) | 1.20 (0.50 to 2.91) | |
| 4 (35, 121) | 1.7–3.7 | 2.1–5.0 | 1.11 (0.62 to 1.99) | 1.46 (0.67 to 3.14) | 1.28 (0.46 to 3.58) | |
| Trend OR = 1.07 (0.89 to 1.30, p = 0.47) | Trend OR = 1.17 (0.91 to 1.51, p = 0.21) | Trend OR = 1.15 (0.83 to 1.61, p = 0.40) | ||||
| Oleic acid (n-9 MUFA) (g/day) | 1 (31, 127) | 5.0–15.5 | 7.4–19.6 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| 2 (28, 129) | 15.6–20.7 | 19.7–26.2 | 0.88 (0.50 to 1.57) | 0.97 (0.52 to 1.81) | 0.90 (0.42 to 1.93) | |
| 3 (35, 123) | 20.8–28.2 | 26.3–33.4 | 1.16 (0.6 to 2.03) | 1.30 (0.63 to 2.66) | 0.85 (0.35 to 2.08) | |
| 4 (31, 125) | 28.3–69.8 | 33.5–78.4 | 1.02 (0.55 to 1.89) | 1.21 (0.48 to 3.01) | 0.78 (0.26 to 2.40) | |
| Trend OR = 1.04 (0.85 to 1.26, p = 0.72) | Trend OR = 1.10 (0.81 to 1.47, p = 0.55) | Trend OR = 0.92 (0.64 to 1.33, p = 0.67) | ||||
| Docosahexaenoic acid (n-3 PUFA) (g/day) | 1 (34, 114) | 0.0 0–0.10 | 0.00–0.11 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| 2 (30, 117) | 0.11–0.18 | 0.12–0.21 | 0.79 (0.43 to 1.44) | 0.76 (0.41 to 1.41) | 0.54 (0.25 to 1.19) | |
| 3 (24, 123) | 0.19–0.32 | 0.22–0.40 | 0.57 (0.29 to 1.10) | 0.53 (0.27 to 1.05) | 0.27 (0.09 to 0.79) | |
| 4 (29, 118 | 0.33–1.35 | 0.41–2.00 | 0.70 (0.3 to 1.37) | 0.64 (0.32 to 1.30) | 0.23 (0.06 to 0.97) | |
| Trend OR = 0.87 (0.70 to 1.09, p = 0.23) | Trend OR = 0.85 (0.68 to 1.07, p = 0.17) | Trend OR = 0.59 (0.37 to 0.94, p = 0.03) | ||||
| Eicosapentaenoic acid (n-3 PUFA) (g/day) | 1 (30, 118) | 0.0 1–0.04 | 0.00–0.05 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| 2 (30, 117) | 0.05–0.09 | 0.06–0.11 | 1.00 (0.54 to 1.86) | 1.02 (0.54 to 1.90) | 1.49 (0.68 to 3.29) | |
| 3 (27, 120) | 0.10–0.16 | 0.12–0.18 | 0.87 (0.46 to 1.67) | 0.86 (0.44 to 1.66) | 2.01 (0.70 to 5.79) | |
| 4 (30, 117) | 0.17–0.73 | 0.19–1.05 | 1.00 (0.52 to 1.91) | 0.96 (0.49 to 1.88) | 2.58 (0.66 to 10.05) | |
| Trend OR = 0.99 (0.80 to 1.21, p = 0.90). | Trend OR = 0.97 (0.78 to 1.20, p = 0.78). | Trend OR = 1.37 (0.88 to 2.15, p = 0.16). | ||||
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*Odds ratios (ORs) adjusted for age at recruitment into the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), gender and centre.
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†Odds ratios adjusted for age at recruitment into EPIC, gender, centre, cigarette smoking and total energy intake.
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‡Odds ratios adjusted for age at recruitment into EPIC, gender, centre, cigarette smoking, total energy intake and the other listed fatty acids.
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§Results in parentheses are number of cases and number of controls.
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CI, confidence interval; MUFA, mono-unsaturated fatty acid.
