Biomarker of dietary linoleic acid and risk of stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background Previous observational studies provided conflicting findings on the relationship between linoleic acid (LA) and risk of stroke. Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of LA level in blood or adipose tissue samples with risk of stroke. Methods PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases were searched until February 29, 2020 to identify eligible observational studies, including cohort studies, nested case-control studies, case-cohort studies, and case-control studies, reporting the association of LA with the risk of stroke and its subtypes. We pooled hazard ratio (HR) estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and conducted heterogeneity test. Sensitivity analysis and publication bias test were also carried out. Results Twelve studies from eleven observational articles involving 47836 individuals were included in the meta-analysis. We observed an inverse association between biomarker of dietary LA and risk of total stroke (HR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.83, 0.94; P Conclusions Our study supports an inverse association of LA levels with risk of stroke, particularly IS. Racial disparity exists in the association between LA and risk of stroke, which deserve further studies.