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Nutrition Journal
Published in: Nutrition Journal 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Review

Correlation analysis of omega-3 fatty acids and mortality of sepsis and sepsis-induced ARDS in adults: data from previous randomized controlled trials

Authors: HuaiSheng Chen, Su Wang, Ying Zhao, YuTian Luo, HuaSheng Tong, Lei Su

Published in: Nutrition Journal | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the possible effect of omega-3 fatty acids on reducing the mortality of sepsis and sepsis-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in adults.

Methods

Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database, WangFang database, and Chinese BioMedical Literature Database from their inception to March 6, 2017, were searched using systematic review researching methods. Five factors were analyzed to investigate the correlation between omega-3 fatty acids (either parenteral or enteral supplementation) and mortality rate.

Results

Forty randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were initially included, but only 25 of them assessed mortality. Of these RCTs, nine used enteral nutrition (EN) and 16 used parenteral nutrition (PN). The total mortality rate in the omega-3 fatty acid group was lower than that in the control group. However, the odds ratio (OR) value was not significantly different in the EN or PN subgroup. Eighteen RCTs including 1790 patients with similar severity of sepsis and ARDS were also analyzed. The OR value was not significantly different in the EN or PN subgroup. Omega-3 fatty acids did not show positive effect on improving mortality of sepsis-induced ARDS (p = 0.39). But in EN subgroup, omega-3 fatty acids treatment seemed to have some benefits in reducing mortality rate (p = 0.04). In the RCTs including similar baseline patients, partial correlation analysis found that the concentration ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids had positive correlation with reduction of mortality (RM) (γ = 0.60, P = 0.02), whereas the total number of each RCT had negative correlation with RM (γ = − 0.54, P = 0.05).

Conclusions

This review found that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation could reduce the mortality rate of sepsis and sepsis-induced ARDS. However, further investigation based on suitable concentrations and indications is needed to support the findings.
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Metadata
Title
Correlation analysis of omega-3 fatty acids and mortality of sepsis and sepsis-induced ARDS in adults: data from previous randomized controlled trials
Authors
HuaiSheng Chen
Su Wang
Ying Zhao
YuTian Luo
HuaSheng Tong
Lei Su
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Nutrition Journal / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1475-2891
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-018-0356-8

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WHO estimates that half of all patients worldwide are non-adherent to their prescribed medication. The consequences of poor adherence can be catastrophic, on both the individual and population level.

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