Background: Observational studies often infer hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL) by measuring circulating fatty acid (FA) markers; however it remains to be elucidated whether these markers accurately reflect hepatic DNL.

Objective: We investigated associations between fasting hepatic DNL and proposed FA markers of DNL in subjects consuming their habitual diet.

Design: Fasting hepatic DNL was assessed using ²H2O (heavy water) in 149 non-diabetic men and women and measuring the synthesis of very low-density lipoprotein triglyceride (VLDL-TG) palmitate. FA markers of blood lipid fractions was determined by gas chromatography (GC).

Results: Neither the lipogenic index (16:0/18:2n-6) nor the SCD index (16:1n-7/16:0) in VLDL-TG were associated with isotopically assessed DNL (r=0.13, P=0.1 and r=-0.08, P=0.35, respectively). The relative abundance (mol%) of 14:0, 16:0 and 18:0 in VLDL-TG were weakly (r≤0.35) associated with DNL whereas abundance of 16:1n-7, 18:1n-7 and 18:1n-9 were not associated. When the cohort was split by median DNL, only abundance of 14:0 and 18:0 in VLDL-TG could discriminate between subjects having high (11.5%) and low (3.8%) fasting hepatic DNL. Based on a subgroup, FA markers in total plasma TG, plasma cholesteryl esters, plasma phospholipids and red blood cell phospholipids were generally not associated with DNL.

Conclusions: The usefulness of circulating FAs as markers of hepatic DNL in healthy individuals consuming their habitual diet is limited due to their inability to clearly discriminate between individuals with low and high fasting hepatic DNL.