No Correlation of ALA with BPH/PC

[Guest guest]

We need to be careful about interpretative opinions given out by

researchers of studies as if they were irrefutable facts. Castelli

made exactly this mistake recently, but I didn't feel like arguing

the point at the time. But it's enough to say that even the

researchers themselves are not immune to decades of propaganda and

false assumptions!

Logan

Lack of correlation between plasma and prostate tissue alpha-

linolenic acid levels.

Attar-Bashi NM, Frydenberg M, Li D, Sinclair AJ.

Food Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.

Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2004;13(Suppl):S78.

Background - Several epidemiological studies have reported a positive

association between plasma alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) levels and the

incidence of prostate cancer; however other studies have not

supported this association, as recently reviewed. Objective - The aim

of this study was to determine if there was a correlation between the

plasma and prostate tissue levels of ALA and/or other n-3

polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Design - Plasma and prostate

tissue were collected from patients undergoing prostate surgery, and

prior to surgery completed a brief dietary questionnaire on the

intake of dietary n-3 PUFA. Twenty-eight patients participated in the

study, of which 20 were diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia

(BPH) and 8 with prostate cancer (PC). Outcome - The main lipids in

the prostate tissue were phospholipids (PL) and sterols. The results

showed that there was no significant correlation between plasma PL

ALA and prostate tissue PL ALA concentrations (or proportions). There

were, however, positive correlations between the proportions (not

concentrations) of plasma and prostate tissue for EPA, DHA and total

n-3 PUFA in the PL fraction. There was no significant difference in

plasma and prostate tissue ALA and n-3 PUFA levels between the BPH

patients and the PC patients for either the PL and triacylglycerol

(TAG) fractions. Plasma ALA concentrations were significantly higher

than the prostate tissue ALA levels for each subject. Conclusions -

These pilot data do not show a significant association between plasma

and prostate ALA in humans.