Dietary linoleic acid intake and blood inflammatory markers: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Level 1 - systematic review of randomized trials
Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
PubMed 28752873 · doi:10.1039/c7fo00433h
What was done
Authors conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases to assess the effect of increased dietary linoleic acid (LA) intake on blood inflammatory markers in adults. The analysis included 30 randomized controlled trials comprising 1,377 participants.
What was found
Higher dietary LA intake produced no statistically significant overall effects on inflammatory markers: - Tumor necrosis factor: SMD -0.01 (95% CI: -0.19 to 0.17) - Interleukin-6: SMD 0.11 (95% CI: -0.07 to 0.29) - Adiponectin: SMD 0.17 (95% CI: -0.17 to 0.50) - Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1: SMD 0.14 (95% CI: -0.33 to 0.60) - C-reactive protein (CRP, 16 studies): SMD 0.09 (95% CI: -0.05 to 0.24) Fibrinogen, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, and adhesion molecules also showed no significant changes. In subgroup and meta-regression analyses, subjects with a larger increase in LA intake showed a possible increase in blood CRP levels.
Why it matters
These findings suggest that raising dietary linoleic acid intake does not broadly promote systemic inflammation in adults, though very high increases in intake may influence CRP.
Limits
Only a limited number of eligible trials evaluated specific markers (e.g., adhesion molecules and certain cytokines). The abstract does not provide details on baseline participant health status, intervention duration, or the specific dietary control fats used for comparison.
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