Effects of the rs174575 single nucleotide polymorphism in FADS2 on levels of long-chain PUFA: a meta-analysis.

The influence of the SNP rs174575 (C/G) within the fatty acid desaturase 2 gene on the levels of long-chain PUFA was determined through statistical meta-analysis. Six databases were searched to retrieve the relevant literature. Original data were analysed using Stata 17·0, encompassing summary statistics, tests for heterogeneity, assessment of publication bias, subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis. A total of ten studies were identified and grouped into twelve trials. Our results showed that individuals who carried the minor G allele of rs174575 had significantly higher dihomo--linolenic acid levels ( = 0·005) and lower arachidonic acid levels ( = 0·033) than individuals who were homozygous for the major allele. The subgroup analysis revealed that the G-allele carriers of rs174575 were significantly positively correlated with linoleic acid ( = 0·002) and dihomo--linolenic acid ( < 0·001) and negatively correlated with arachidonic acid ( = 0·004) in the European populations group. This particular SNP showed a potential association with higher concentrations of dihomo--linolenic acid ( = 0·050) and lower concentrations of arachidonic acid ( = 0·030) within the breast milk group. This meta-analysis has been registered in the PROSPERO database (ID: CRD42023470562).