Plasma Fatty Acids and Gait Speed in Community-dwelling Older Subjects: Results from the Bordeaux sample of the Three-City Study.
Eric Frison 1,2, Yves Boirie 3, Evelyne Peuchant 4,5, Pascale Barberger Gateau 1,2, Catherine Féart 1,2
1 Univ. Bordeaux, ISPED, Bordeaux, France ; 2 INSERM, U897, Bordeaux, France ; 3 INRA, UMR 1019, CRNH Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France ; 4 INSERM, U876, Bordeaux France ; 5 CHU Bordeaux, Hôpital Saint-André, Service de Biochimie, Bordeaux France.

Background: The maintenance of adequate physical performance with age might be modulated by nutritional factors, such as fatty acids (FAs). Objective: Our aim was to estimate the cross-sectional association between plasma FAs and gait speed in French elderly community-dwellers. Methods: Elderly subjects from the Bordeaux center of the Three-City Study were included. The proportion of each FA, and gait speed (m/s) were measured concomitantly at enrolment. A low gait speed was defined as a gait speed lower than the first quartile of distribution of the variable. FA patterns were derived using principal component analysis. Multivariate logistic regression models were used and odds-ratios (OR) were expressed per one additional unit of pattern score. Results: Among 982 subjects, 239 (24.3%) had a low gait speed (<0.63 m/s) at baseline. Three distinct FA patterns were identified, mainly characterized by higher proportions of 1) unsaturated FAs, 2) monounsaturated FAs (MUFAs), and 3) long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated FAs (LC n-3 PUFA). After adjustment for potential confounders (i.e. age, sex, education, tobacco and alcohol consumption, energy and protein intake, polypharmacy, vascular risk factors, cognitive disorders, depressive status, physical activity, plasma triacylglycerol), only a higher score on the LC n-3 PUFA pattern was associated with a lower probability of low gait speed (OR = 0.78; 95% CI: 0.67, 0.90; P = 0.0007). The unsaturated FA pattern and the MUFA pattern were not associated with low gait speed (OR = 0.98; 95% CI: 0.90, 1.06; P = 0.63 and OR = 0.97; 95% CI: 0.84, 1.12; P = 0.67 respectively). Conclusions: A FA pattern mainly driven by high plasma concentrations of LC n-3 PUFA is cross-sectionally associated with a higher gait speed in community-dwelling older subjects. The role of LC n-3 PUFA in the prevention of physical performance decline warrants further research.