Dietary patterns, genetic predisposition and metabolic syndrome in the Boston Puerto Rican health study

Puerto Ricans bear a disproportionate number of chronic conditions. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 50% for Puerto Rican elders living in Massachusetts. The etiology of metabolic syndrome is thought to be due to genetic, environmental and metabolic factors. Little is known about dietary intakes of Puerto Ricans living on the US mainland, and few genetic studies have been conducted in this population.;We characterized dietary patterns of 1167 Puerto Rican adults aged 45 to 75 years living in the Boston area, using principle components analysis. Subjects completed home interviews including questionnaires and anthropometric measures, and provided biological samples. Three factors were identified: a meat and French fries, a Traditional, and a sweets pattern. Significant associations were observed for the factors with metabolic syndrome components including blood pressure, waist circumference, and HDL concentrations. Unexpected findings between the sweets pattern and fasting plasma glucose were no longer statistically significant after excluding participants with type 2 diabetes. A higher likelihood of metabolic syndrome was observed for the Traditional pattern (OR: 1.7, 95%CI: 1.04, 2.7), and for the sweets pattern after excluding participants with type 2 diabetes (OR: 2.5, 95%CI: 1.4, 4.4).;We examined fatty acid patterns using principle components analysis. A four factor solution emerged as most meaningful: a short and medium chain saturated fatty acid (SFA)/dairy pattern, an omega 3 (n-3)/fish pattern, a long chain SFA and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)/oils pattern, and a monounsaturated/trans fat pattern. The n-3/fish pattern was inversely associated with diastolic blood pressure (P for trend= 0.04), although associations were no longer significant after adjustment for fish oil supplement use. The SFA/dairy pattern was negatively related to fasting plasma glucose (P for trend= 0.02), and the SFA and PUFA/oils pattern was inversely associated with waist circumference (P for trend= 0.008). The highest quintile of the n-3/fish pattern was associated with a lower likelihood of metabolic syndrome compared with the lowest quintile (OR: 0.54, 95% CI: 0.34, 0.86).;Lastly, we selected and genotyped six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for the CD36 gene. Our findings indicate that for SNPs rs1049673 and rs3211931, homozygous subjects for the minor allele had a higher likelihood of metabolic syndrome compared with non-carrier and heterozygous carriers for the major allele (OR: 2.6, 95%CI: 1.5, 4.7 and OR:2.2, 95%CI: 1.3, 3.7, respectively). CD36 haplotypes were associated with metabolic syndrome (global significance, P= 0.026). Three individual haplotypes were associated with a lower likelihood of metabolic syndrome compared with a reference haplotype (P= 0.017, 0.035 and 0.045, respectively).;In conclusion, our findings indicate that dietary patterns and fatty acid intakes are associated with metabolic syndrome and its components for Boston Puerto Rican adults. Genetic variation may play a role in the higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome observed for this population. More research is needed to develop appropriate nutrition recommendations for this high-risk population. Prospective studies are also needed to further elucidate the role of CD36 for the development of metabolic syndrome.