Adipose Tissue Content of Fatty Acids Present in Dairy Fat and Risk of Stroke. The Danish Diet, Cancer and Health Cohort

Background: Although low-fat dairy products are an integral part of a diet recommended for stroke prevention, the role of dairy fat in relation to the risk of stroke is not yet clear. Objective: Therefore the association of adipose tissue content of fatty acids, for which dairy products are a major source (12:0, 14:0, 14:1 cis-9, 15:0, 17:0, 18:1 trans-11 and 18:2 cis-9, trans-11), with incident total stroke and stroke subtypes will be investigated. Design: The study is a case-cohort study nested within the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health cohort, including all incident stroke cases and a random sample of the total cohort.The fatty acid composition of adipose tissue biopsies was determined by gas chromatography and the content of specific fatty acids was expressed as percentage of total fatty acids. Stroke cases were identified in the Danish National Patient Registry and the diagnoses were individually verified. Cox proportional hazard regression will be used to estimate the association between fatty acids and stroke.