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. 2021 Mar:166:102250.
doi: 10.1016/j.plefa.2021.102250. Epub 2021 Jan 20.

Blood omega-3 fatty acids and death from COVID-19: A pilot study

Arash Asher  1 , Nathan L Tintle  2 , Michael Myers  3 , Laura Lockshon  1 , Heribert Bacareza  4 , William S Harris  5
Affiliations

Blood omega-3 fatty acids and death from COVID-19: A pilot study

Arash Asher et al. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

Very-long chain omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) have anti-inflammatory properties that may help reduce morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 infection. We conducted a pilot study in 100 patients to test the hypothesis that RBC EPA+DHA levels (the Omega-3 Index, O3I) would be inversely associated with risk for death by analyzing the O3I in banked blood samples drawn at hospital admission. Fourteen patients died, one of 25 in quartile 4 (Q4) (O3I ≥5.7%) and 13 of 75 in Q1-3. After adjusting for age and sex, the odds ratio for death in patients with an O3I in Q4 vs Q1-3 was 0.25, p = 0.07. Although not meeting the classical criteria for statistical significance, this strong trend suggests that a relationship may indeed exist, but more well-powered studies are clearly needed.

Keywords: COVID-19; Docosahexaenoic acid; Eicosapentaenoic acid; Inflammation; Omega-3 fatty acids; Omega-3 index; Total mortality.

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