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Meta-Analysis
. 2016 Jun 16:6:28165.
doi: 10.1038/srep28165.

N-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and risk of all-cause mortality among general populations: a meta-analysis

Guo-Chong Chen  1 , Jing Yang  1   2 , Manfred Eggersdorfer  3 , Weiguo Zhang  4 , Li-Qiang Qin  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

N-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and risk of all-cause mortality among general populations: a meta-analysis

Guo-Chong Chen et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Prospective observational studies have shown inconsistent associations of dietary or circulating n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) with risk of all-cause mortality. A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the associations. Potentially eligible studies were identified by searching PubMed and EMBASE databases. The summary relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using the random-effects model. Eleven prospective studies involving 371 965 participants from general populations and 31 185 death events were included. The summary RR of all-cause mortality for high-versus-low n-3 LCPUFA intake was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.84-0.98). The summary RR for eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake was 0.83 (95% CI: 0.75-0.92) and 0.81 (95% CI: 0.74-0.95), respectively. In the dose-response analysis, each 0.3 g/d increment in n-3 LCPUFA intake was associated with 6% lower risk of all-cause mortality (RR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.89-0.99); and each 1% increment in the proportions of circulating EPA and DHA in total fatty acids in blood was associated with 20% (RR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.65-0.98) and 21% (RR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.63-0.99) decreased risk of all-cause mortality, respectively. Moderate to high heterogeneity was observed across our anlayses. Our findings suggest that both dietary and circulating LCPUFA are inversely associated with all-cause mortality.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Literature search for the meta-analysis.
LCPUFA, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Risk estimates of all-cause mortality for the highest compared with lowest intake of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in individual studies and all combined.
F, female; M, male.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Risk estimates of all-cause mortality for the highest compared with lowest proportions of circulating eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) to total fatty acids in blood for individual studies and all combined.
F, female; M, male.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Risk estimates of all-cause mortality associated with dietary long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (panel A) and circulating eicosapentaenoic acid (panel B) and docosahexaenoic acid (panel C) in a restricted cubic spline random-effects meta-analysis. FA, fatty acids; LCPUFA, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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