Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Aug 26;18(4):890-899.
doi: 10.5114/aoms/141577. eCollection 2022.

Effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on pregnancy outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Yingying Hao  1 , Xiaoshi Sun  2 , Ningning Wen  1 , Dan Song  3 , Hong Li  4
Affiliations
Review

Effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on pregnancy outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Yingying Hao et al. Arch Med Sci. .

Abstract

Introduction: There are limited studies exploring the effects of n-3 PUFA supplementation on pregnancy outcomes. The goal of this study was to review relevant studies in order to determine the effect of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) supplementation on pregnancy outcomes based on eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Material and methods: Qualified studies were searched by keywords in PubMed, the Cochrane library and Embase. Studies from other pertinent sources were also reviewed, and RCTs published before January 2021 were reviewed. For each study, we assessed and synthesized the outcomes by relative risk (RR) or weighted mean difference (WMD) combined with the 95% confidence interval (95% CI).

Results: We included 13 studies with 9069 patients. Compared with the control group, n-3 PUFA significantly decreased the incidence of preterm delivery (RR = 0.898, 95% CI: 0.819-0.984) and low birthweight (RR = 0.797, 95% CI: 0.655-0.970), and increased the birth weight (WMD = 99.340, 95% CI: 10.503-188.177) and birth length (WMD = 0.449, 95% CI: 0.236-0.663). There was no significant difference in pregnancy-induced hypertension, preeclampsia, intrauterine growth retardation (IUIG), early preterm delivery, anti-hypertensive therapy, gestational diabetes or head circumference at birth between the two groups.

Conclusions: The available evidence shows that n-3 PUFA is not beneficial in reducing the incidence of maternal pregnancy outcomes such as gestational diabetes mellitus and hypertension; but it is beneficial to neonatal health such as decreasing the incidence of preterm delivery and low birthweight and increasing birth weight and birth length.

Keywords: meta-analysis; n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid; pregnancy outcome.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Literature search and selection strategy
Figure 2
Figure 2
Sensitivity analysis of the included studies
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plot for preterm delivery
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plot for preeclampsia
Figure 5
Figure 5
Forest plot for pregnancy-induced hypertension
Figure 6
Figure 6
Forest plot for low birthweight
Figure 7
Figure 7
Funnel plot of the included studies
Figure 8
Figure 8
Filled funnel plot of the included studies
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. de Castro GS, Deminice R, Simões-Ambrosio LM, Calder PC, Jordão AA, Vannucchi H. Dietary docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid influence liver triacylglycerol and insulin resistance in rats fed a high-fructose diet. Marine Drugs 2015; 13: 1864-81. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schwingshackl L, Strasser B, Hoffmann G. Effects of monounsaturated fatty acids on glycaemic control in patients with abnormal glucose metabolism: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Nutrition Metabol 2011; 58: 290-6. - PubMed
    1. Yang ZH, Emma-Okon B, Remaley AT. Dietary marine-derived long-chain monounsaturated fatty acids and cardiovascular disease risk: a mini review. Lipids Health Dis 2016; 15: 201. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nguyen NM, de Oliveira Andrade F, Jin L, et al. . Maternal intake of high n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid diet during pregnancy causes transgenerational increase in mammary cancer risk in mice. Breast Cancer Res. 2017; 19: 77. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Simopoulos AP. An increase in the omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid ratio increases the risk for obesity. Nutrients 2016; 8: 128. - PMC - PubMed