Research

Hormonal

n-6 fatty acids, specifically arachidonic acid (AA), increase the susceptibility of cardiomyocytes to apoptosis and arrhythmias during ischemia/reperfusion injury through Ca2+/Na+ mediated actions and increased inflammatory biomarkers.

Maintain a healthy balance between n-6 and n-3 fatty acids. While n-6 fats are essential, excessive intake relative to n-3 fats may increase inflammation and heart cell damage during stress. Focus on reducing processed foods high in n-6 oils and increasing n-3 sources.

ModerateRefutesMEDIUM confidence
Administration of 40 (cid:2)M arachidonic acid (AA) upregulated apoptotic pathways within the myocyte. AA increased the levels of intracellular calcium and sodium and this was correlated with increased caspase-3 activity and cytochrome c release. The data suggests that AA increases the susceptibility of the myocyte to undergo apoptosis through a Ca2+/Na+ mediated action.
Dariush Mozaffarian et al. · New England Journal of Medicine · 2006

Why this rating

Evidence is primarily from in vitro and animal models; human clinical data is less direct for this specific mechanism.

Source

Trans Fatty Acids and Cardiovascular Disease

Dariush Mozaffarian et al. · New England Journal of Medicine · 2006

DOI 10.1056/nejmra054035

narrative_reviewCited 1,756×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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