Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation versus placebo on vascular health, glycaemic control, and metabolic parameters in people with type 1 diabetes: a randomised controlled preliminary trial

What this study found

Omega-3 supplementation did not improve vascular health, glycemic control, or metabolic parameters compared with placebo in this 6-month trial. No significant between-group differences were seen for carotid intima-media thickness, flow-mediated dilation, HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides, or cholesterol, with all reported P values > 0.05, including CIMT 0.216, FMD 0.332, HbA1c 0.404, FPG 0.798, triglycerides 0.858, and cholesterol 0.432. Inflammatory and endothelial markers were also unchanged between groups. Mild gastrointestinal symptoms were reported, but there were no major…

Study & population

This was a single-centre randomized controlled preliminary trial in adults with type 1 diabetes who were generally well controlled, without diabetes-related complications, and on stable insulin regimens.

Intervention

Adults in the active arm received 3.3 g/day of encapsulated oral omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for 6 months, providing 2.3 g EPA and 0.8 g DHA, versus placebo.

Key limitation

The active arm was small and only 10 participants were analyzed per protocol, which limits power and precision.

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