Comparing the serum TAG response to high-dose supplementation of either DHA or EPA among individuals with increased cardiovascular risk: the ComparED study
What this study found
Overall, both DHA and EPA lowered triglycerides, but DHA produced a larger proportion of responders and more favorable changes in some inflammatory and HDL-C outcomes. Compared with control, triglycerides changed by -0.59 mmol/L with DHA and -0.57 mmol/L with EPA; the proportion of responders (>0.25 mmol/L reduction vs control) was 45% (N=54) for DHA and 32% (N=39) for EPA. Only 26% were concordant responders to both fatty acids, showing substantial inter- and intra-individual variability. Among concordant responders, the triglyceride reduction was similar for DHA and EPA (-0.67 vs -0.61…
- Study & population
- Randomized crossover trial in adults with abdominal obesity and subclinical inflammation, a group at increased cardiovascular risk.
- Intervention
- Randomized crossover intervention comparing oral high-dose DHA and EPA.
- Key limitation
- The active phases were relatively short at 10 weeks, so long-term lipid and cardiovascular effects were not assessed.
View source
Open PDFOriginal abstract
Abstract Studies have shown that the reduction in serum TAG concentrations with long-chain n-3 fatty acid supplementation is highly variable among individuals. The objectives of the present study were to compare the proportions of individuals whose TAG concentrations lowered after high-dose DHA and EPA, and to identify the predictors of response to both modalities. In a double-blind, controlled, crossover study, 154 men and women were randomised to three supplemented phases of 10 weeks each: (1) 2·7 g/d of DHA, (2) 2·7 g/d of EPA and (3) 3 g/d of maize oil, separated by 9-week washouts. As secondary analyses, the mean intra-individual variation in TAG was calculated using the standard deviation from the mean of four off-treatment samples. The response remained within the intra-individual variation (±0·25 mmol/l) in 47 and 57 % of participants after DHA and EPA, respectively. Although there was a greater proportion of participants with a reduction >0·25 mmol/l after DHA than after EPA (45 υ. 32 %; P < 0·001), the mean TAG reduction was comparable between groups (–0·59 (sem 0·04) υ. –0·57 (sem 0·05) mmol/l). Participants with a reduction >0·25 mmol/l after both DHA and EPA had higher non-HDL-cholesterol, TAG and insulin concentrations compared with other responders at baseline (all P < 0·05). In conclusion, supplementation with 2·7 g/d DHA or EPA had no meaningful effect on TAG concentrations in a large proportion of individuals with normal mean TAG concentrations at baseline. Although DHA lowered TAG in a greater proportion of individuals compared with EPA, the magnitude of TAG lowering among them was similar.