Comparison of serum phospholipid fatty acids among fishing and farming Japanese populations and American inlanders.

Fatty acid compositions of phospholipids in serum were analyzed in three different populations in seaside fishing and mountain farming villages in Japan and in inland inhabitants of the United States of America. The percentage of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, i.e., eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6) was significantly low in United States inlanders with a high coronary heart disease morbidity compared with both populations in Japan with low morbidity. The level of arachidonic acid (20:4) was the same among these three inhabitant population groups. However, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid levels were significantly higher in the inhabitants of fishing villages with relatively low stroke morbidity than in those of farming villages with extremely high stroke morbidity in Japan.