Margarine intake and risk of nonfatal acute myocardial infarction in Italian women

Objectives: Since a relation between trans-fatty acids and cardiovascular diseases has been described, we examined the relationship between margarine intake and nonfatal acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Italian women. Design: Hospital-based case-control study. Setting: Northern Italy between 1983 and 1992. Subjects: Cases were 429 women, aged 18-74 y, in hospital with diagnosis of AMI and 866 controls in hospital for acute, non-cardiovascular, non-neoplastic, non-digestive, non-hormone-related conditions. Analysis: Odds ratios (OR), with their 95% confidence intervals (CI), were computed by unconditional multiple logistic regression analysis, including terms for age, education, body mass index, smoking, alcohol and coffee drinking, menopausal status, hormone replacement therapy and history of diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia. Results: Medium or high intake of margarine was associated with an increased risk of AMI (multivariate OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.0-2.2). Analysis in separate strata of covariates indicated that the association was independent of body mass index, history of hypertension and hyperlipidemia, and was greater in older women and in current smokers. Conclusions: If real, the association with margarine could explain about 6% of AMI in this population of Italian women.