Blood n-3 fatty acid levels and total and cause-specific mortality from 17 prospective studies

Fatty Acids and Outcomes Research Consortium (FORCE)

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The health effects of omega-3 fatty acids have been controversial. Here we report the results of a de novo pooled analysis conducted with data from 17 prospective cohort studies examining the associations between blood omega-3 fatty acid levels and risk for all-cause mortality. Over a median of 16 years of follow-up, 15,720 deaths occurred among 42,466 individuals. We found that, after multivariable adjustment for relevant risk factors, risk for death from all causes was significantly lower (by 15-18%, at least p < 0.003) in the highest vs the lowest quintile for circulating long chain (20-22 carbon) omega-3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic, docosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids). Similar relationships were seen for death from cardiovascular disease, cancer and other causes. No associations were seen with the 18-carbon omega-3, alpha-linolenic acid. These findings suggest that higher circulating levels of marine n-3 PUFA are associated with a lower risk of premature death.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2329
Pages (from-to)1-9
Number of pages9
JournalNature Communications
Volume12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22 Apr 2021

Bibliographical note

Copyright:
This record is sourced from MEDLINE/PubMed, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine

Funding

The authors below declare the following competing interests outside of the submitted work. A.I.B., Involvement in a research project partly funded by Unilever. A.S.V., Grants and support to attend professional meetings from the California Walnut Commission. B. M.P., Data and Safety Monitoring Board of a clinical trial funded by Zoll LifeCor; Steering Committee of the Yale Open Data Access Project funded by Johnson & Johnson. D.M., Research grants to Institution: the National Institutes of Health, the Gates Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation; Personal Fees: the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3, Bunge, Indigo Agriculture, Motif FoodWorks, Amarin, Acasti Pharma, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Danone, and America’s Test Kitchen; Scientific Advisory Boards: Brightseed, Calibrate, DayTwo, Elysium Health, Filtricine, Foodome, Human Co., and Tiny Organics; and Chapter Royalties: UpToDate. J.G.R., Research grants to Institution: Acasti, Amarin, Amgen, Astra-Zeneca, Eli Lilly, Esperion, Medicines Company, Merck, Novartis, Novo-Nordisk, Regeneron, and Sanofi. Consultant: Getz Pharma, Medicines Company, and Sanofi. R.A.M., Research grants to Institution: I. L.S.I. North America; Personal Fees from PharmaVite. The author below declares the following competing interests related to the submitted work. W.S.H., Stock in Omega-Quant Analytics, LLC (a laboratory that offers blood fatty acid testing); Schiff Institute Science and Innovation Advisory Board. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

FundersFunder number
America’s Test Kitchen
National Institutes of Health
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
Unilever

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