Abstract
There is a vast disagreement in relation to the possible beneficial effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 PUFA) supplementation in patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The conflicting results between the various original studies and meta-analyses could be partially explained as a result of variable supplementation dosage and duration, either of which may modify the effects of omega-3 PUFA on cardio-metabolic biomarkers. Meta-analyses are limited usually by the inability to draw inferences regarding dosage, duration and the interaction of dosage and duration of omega-3 PUFA intake. Even so, almost all endpoints in the so-called “negative” meta-analyses leaned toward a trend for benefit with a near 10% reduction in cardiovascular outcomes and a borderline statistical significance. Many trials included in these meta-analyses tested an insufficient daily dose of omega-3 PUFA of less than 1000 mg. Probably, the consistent cardiovascular effects of omega-3 PUFA supplements could be expected only with daily doses above 2000 mg.
Highlights
Main text There is a vast disagreement in relation to the possible beneficial effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids supplementation in patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease
Fisman contributed to this article 1 Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel Full list of author information is available at the end of the article with atherosclerotic vascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) [3, 4]
The positive conclusions are complemented by an impressive group of most of the latest studies, demonstrating beneficial effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) supplementation on metabolism [6,7,8,9]
Summary
Main text There is a vast disagreement in relation to the possible beneficial effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 PUFA) supplementation in patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The divergences have been just fueled by two recently published meta-analyses establishing that omega-3 PUFA supplementation may not reduce the risk for cardiovascular events [1, 2]. These negative conclusions are accompanied by a number of studies demonstrating no benefits from omega-3 PUFA supplementation on oxidative stress, inflammatory parameters, coagulation and metabolic status in patients
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