Lack of evidence for Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in enhancing lean mass, muscle strength, and physical function in healthy adults and clinical populations: An overview of reviews

IF 2.9 Q3 NUTRITION & DIETETICS

Clinical nutrition ESPEN Pub Date : 2025-03-13 DOI:10.1016/j.clnesp.2025.03.012

Everson A. Nunes , Alysha C. D'Souza , Jeremy P. Steen, Stuart M. Phillips

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background & aims

N-3 (omega-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3-PUFA) have been hypothesized to enhance/maintain skeletal muscle mass, strength, and physical function. We conducted an overview of reviews of n-3 fatty acid monotherapy supplementation and examined whether the evidence supports the effects in healthy young and old adults and clinical populations.

Methods

In line with the PRISMA guidelines, a widely accepted framework for conducting and reporting systematic reviews, we conducted a comprehensive search for systematic reviews (OVID, Embase, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus) reporting the effect of n-3 fatty acid supplementation in our target populations. To ensure the reliability and validity of our findings, the methodological quality of the reviews was assessed using A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) 1, a validated tool for appraising the methodological quality of systematic reviews.

Results

Thirty-three systematic reviews met our inclusion criteria: 19 non-oncologic, 11 oncologic, and 3 mixed. In non-oncologic populations, 4 out of 16 reviews showed some evidence that n-3-PUFA supplementation benefitted lean mass, with 3 reviews focusing on older populations. For strength, 1 out of 14 reviews found sufficient evidence in favor, while 3 others reported some evidence of n-3-PUFA ingestion. For physical function, 1 out of 15 reviews found sufficient evidence, and 3 reported some evidence favoring n-3-PUFA use. In oncologic participants, only 1 out of 13 reviews found sufficient evidence that n-3-PUFA improved lean mass. No reviews found sufficient evidence for strength or physical function improvements.

Conclusions

Our analysis indicates limited evidence supporting the effectiveness of n-3-PUFA supplementation in both younger and older healthy adults, as well as clinical populations including oncologic patients, to improve or prevent loss of lean mass. Most systematic reviews concluded that n-3-PUFA supplementation did not significantly affect strength, or studies were inconclusive, and there was no consistent impact of n-3-PUFA supplementation on functional outcome measures. These findings underscore the need for further research to better understand the role of n-3-PUFA in muscle health and to guide clinical practice. Our analysis does not support n-3-PUFA monotherapy for lean mass gain/retention enhancing strength or function in healthy young and older persons, and oncologic populations.

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缺乏证据表明补充Omega-3脂肪酸可以增强健康成人和临床人群的瘦质量、肌肉力量和身体功能：综述

背景与目的：N-3 （omega-3）多不饱和脂肪酸（N-3 - pufa）被假设可以增强/维持骨骼肌质量、力量和身体功能。我们对n-3脂肪酸单一疗法补充进行了综述，并检查了证据是否支持健康的年轻人和老年人以及临床人群的效果。方法：根据PRISMA指南（一个广泛接受的进行和报告系统评价的框架），我们对报告n-3脂肪酸补充对目标人群影响的系统评价（OVID, Embase, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus）进行了全面的搜索。为了确保研究结果的可靠性和有效性，我们使用评估系统评价的测量工具（AMSTAR） 1来评估综述的方法学质量，这是一种评估系统评价方法学质量的有效工具。结果：33项系统评价符合我们的纳入标准：19项非肿瘤学，11项肿瘤学，3项混合。在非肿瘤人群中，16篇综述中有4篇显示了n-3-PUFA补充剂有益于瘦体重的证据，其中3篇综述关注的是老年人群。就强度而言，14篇评论中有1篇发现了足够的证据，而另外3篇则报告了n-3-PUFA摄入的一些证据。对于身体功能，15篇评论中有1篇发现了足够的证据，3篇报道了一些支持n-3-PUFA使用的证据。在肿瘤学参与者中，13篇评论中只有1篇发现了足够的证据表明n-3-PUFA改善了瘦体重。没有评论发现足够的证据表明可以改善力量或身体功能。结论：我们的分析表明，有限的证据支持补充n-3-PUFA在年轻和老年健康成年人以及包括肿瘤患者在内的临床人群中改善或预防瘦质量损失的有效性。大多数系统综述得出的结论是，补充n-3-PUFA对肌力没有显著影响，或者研究尚无定论，并且补充n-3-PUFA对功能结局测量没有一致的影响。这些发现强调需要进一步研究，以更好地了解n-3-PUFA在肌肉健康中的作用，并指导临床实践。我们的分析不支持n-3-PUFA单药治疗在健康的年轻人和老年人以及肿瘤人群中增加/保持瘦体重或增强力量或功能。

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来源期刊

Clinical nutrition ESPEN NUTRITION & DIETETICS-

CiteScore

4.90

自引率

3.30%

发文量

512

期刊介绍： Clinical Nutrition ESPEN is an electronic-only journal and is an official publication of the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN). Nutrition and nutritional care have gained wide clinical and scientific interest during the past decades. The increasing knowledge of metabolic disturbances and nutritional assessment in chronic and acute diseases has stimulated rapid advances in design, development and clinical application of nutritional support. The aims of ESPEN are to encourage the rapid diffusion of knowledge and its application in the field of clinical nutrition and metabolism. Published bimonthly, Clinical Nutrition ESPEN focuses on publishing articles on the relationship between nutrition and disease in the setting of basic science and clinical practice. Clinical Nutrition ESPEN is available to all members of ESPEN and to all subscribers of Clinical Nutrition.