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
Meta-Analysis
. 2025 Feb;97(3):924-938.
doi: 10.1038/s41390-024-03579-5. Epub 2024 Sep 19.

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids supplementation and sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Ariadna Witte Castro  1 , María L Couce  2   3 , Carmela de Lamas  2 , Mª Rosario López-Giménez  4 , Miguel Ángel Jiménez Varas  5 , C Zozaya  6 , Miguel Saenz de Pipaon  6
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids supplementation and sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Ariadna Witte Castro et al. Pediatr Res. 2025 Feb.

Abstract

Background: Long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) have proven to be essential for development in preterm infants and have been studied for their capacity to reduce inflammation and infection rates, including sepsis in enteral and parenteral nutrition. The aim of this review and meta-analysis is to gather the information available on this subject to determine if n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids can reduce sepsis incidence in preterm infants.

Methods: This systematic review was conducted by searching in the databases MEDLINE (via PubMed), ISI-Web of Science, EMBASE, SCOPUS, SciELO, and Cochrane Library databases. We analyzed the data regarding sepsis using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach to assess the quality of the evidence.

Results: A total of 40 trials were included for review and 35 trials had the data available for quantitative analysis. LCPUFAs supplementation did not reduce incidence of sepsis (relative risk (RR), confidence interval (CI) 0.95 [0.87, 1.03] P = 0.87; I2 = 0%). These results remained consistent after the sensitivity analysis.

Conclusion: The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis indicate that LCPUFA supplementation is not associated with a significant decrease in the incidence of sepsis in premature infants.

Impact: Reviewing the information available about LCPUFA supplementation and sepsis since the results in previous Clinical Trials (CT) are inconclusive. It summarizes the results of 42 CT and we have not found conclusive results regarding sepsis in the literature. It could be of clinical interest for pediatricians and nutritionists.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

References

    1. Crawford M. A. et al. Are deficits of arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids responsible for the neural and vascular complications of preterm babies? Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 66 https://doi.org/10.1093/AJCN/66.4.1032S (1997).
    1. Alshweki A. et al. Effects of different arachidonic acid supplementation on psychomotor development in very preterm infants; a randomized controlled trial. Nutr. J. 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/S12937-015-0091-3 (2015).
    1. Makrides, M. & Uauy, R. LCPUFAs as conditionally essential nutrients for very low birth weight and low birth weight infants: metabolic, functional, and clinical outcomes-how much is enough? Clin. Perinatol. 41, 451–461 (2014). - PubMed - DOI
    1. Lapillonne, A. & Moltu, S. J. Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and clinical outcomes of preterm infants. Ann. Nutr. Metab. 69, 36–44 (2016). - DOI
    1. Lapillonne A., Groh-Wargo S., Lozano Gonzalez C. H. & Uauy R. Lipid needs of preterm infants: updated recommendations. J. Pediatr. 162. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JPEDS.2012.11.052 (2013).

Substances

LinkOut - more resources