Supplementation with high-dose docosahexaenoic acid increases the Omega-3 Index more than high-dose eicosapentaenoic acid
Allaire J, Harris WS, Vors C, Charest A, Marin J, Jackson KH, Tchernof A, Couture P, Lamarche B
Prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and essential fatty acids · 42 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Nonprofit
- Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale
- Government
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Government
- Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé
- Government
- CIHR
- Grants
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (123494_1)
Based on 4 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2017-03-31 · Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids · vol. 120 · pp. 8–14
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Cited
- 60 citations · more than 95% of similar papers · 4.5× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 28 works
- Access
- Open access (hybrid journal) · CC-BY-NC-ND
- Research areas
- Fatty Acid Research and Health · Diet, Metabolism, and Disease · Natural Products and Biological Research
- Keywords
- Docosahexaenoic acid, Eicosapentaenoic acid, Docosapentaenoic acid, Internal medicine, Medicine, Crossover study, Polyunsaturated fatty acid, Endocrinology, Fatty acid, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Placebo
- MeSH
- erythrocytes, humans, fatty acids, omega-3, docosahexaenoic acids, eicosapentaenoic acid, anthropometry, risk factors, cross-over studies, double-blind method, dietary supplements, aged, middle aged, female, male
9 authors
From CA, US
- Janie AllaireUniversité Laval; Institut sur la nutrition et les aliments fonctionnels (INAF)
- William Stephen HarrisUniversity of South Dakota; University of Sioux Falls; Sanford Research
- Cécile VorsUniversité Laval; Institut sur la nutrition et les aliments fonctionnels (INAF)
- Amélie CharestUniversité Laval; Institut sur la nutrition et les aliments fonctionnels (INAF)
- Johanne MarinUniversité Laval; Institut sur la nutrition et les aliments fonctionnels (INAF)
- Kristina Harris Jackson
Abstract
Background
Recent studies suggest that eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids have distinct effects on cardiometabolic risk factors. The Omega-3 Index (O3I), which is calculated as the proportion of EPA and DHA in red blood cell (RBC) membranes, has been inversely associated with the risk of coronary heart diseases and coronary mortality. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of EPA and DHA supplementation on the O3I in men and women with abdominal obesity and subclinical inflammation.
Methods
In a double-blind controlled crossover study, 48 men and 106 women with abdominal obesity and subclinical inflammation were randomized to a sequence of three treatment phases: 1-2.7g/d of EPA, 2-2.7g/d of DHA, and 3-3g/d of corn oil (0g of EPA+DHA). All supplements were provided as 3×1g capsules for a total of 3g/d. The 10-week treatment phases were separated by nine-week washouts. RBC membrane fatty acid composition and O3I were assessed at baseline and the end of each phase. Differences in O3I between treatments were assessed using mixed models for repeated measures.
Results
The increase in the O3I after supplementation with DHA (+5.6% compared with control, P<0.0001) was significantly greater than after EPA (+3.3% compared with control, P<0.0001; DHA vs. EPA, P<0.0001). Compared to control, DHA supplementation decreased (-0.8%, P<0.0001) while EPA increased (+2.5%, P<0.0001) proportion of docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) in RBCs (DHA vs. EPA, P<0.0001). The baseline O3I was higher in women than in men (6.3% vs. 5.8%, P=0.011). The difference between DHA and EPA in increasing the O3I tended to be higher in men than in women (+2.6% vs. +2.2% respectively, P for the treatment by sex interaction=0.0537).
Conclusions
The increase in the O3I is greater with high dose DHA supplementation than with high dose EPA, which is consistent with the greater potency of DHA to modulate cardiometabolic risk factors. The extent to which such differences between EPA and DHA in increasing the O3I relates to long-term cardiovascular risk needs to be investigated in the future.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher (CC BY-NC-ND).
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