Trial reportLipids2016
Daily Enteral DHA Supplementation Alleviates Deficiency in Premature Infants.
Trial report in Lipids, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03700957 (A Clinical Study on the Impact of Docosahexaenoic Acid on the Prevention of Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Preterm Neonates), which is not on this map. Cited by 29 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Clinical Study on the Impact of Docosahexaenoic Acid on the Prevention of Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Preterm Neonates
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Enteral lipid supplements for the prevention and treatment of parenteral nutrition-associated liver disease in infants.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Effect of enteral supplementation of DHA with or without ARA in preterm infants: a meta-analysis.Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition · 2025Pooled it
- Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids supplementation and sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Pediatric research · 2025Pooled it
- Longchain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in preterm infants.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Modification of serum fatty acids in preterm infants by parenteral lipids and enteral docosahexaenoic acid/arachidonic acid: A secondary analysis of the Mega Donna Mega trial.Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2023Trial
- Maternal Docosahexaenoic Acid Status during Pregnancy and Its Impact on Infant Neurodevelopment.Nutrients · 2020Trial
- Influence of Human Milk and Parenteral Lipid Emulsions on Serum Fatty Acid Profiles in Extremely Preterm Infants.JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition · 2019Trial
- Association of Retinopathy of Prematurity With Low Levels of Arachidonic Acid: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA ophthalmology · 2018Trial
- Effects of a lipid emulsion containing fish oil on polyunsaturated fatty acid profiles, growth and morbidities in extremely premature infants: A randomized controlled trial.Clinical nutrition ESPEN · 2017Trial
- DHA: Nutritional Programming During the First 1000 Days of Life.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Docosahexaenoic Acid Increases the Pro-Resolving Brain Lipid Mediators of Inflammation in Rat Pups Prenatally Exposed to Alcohol.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Fatty acid concentrations in preterm infants fed the exclusive human milk diet: a prospective cohort study.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2024Article
- DHA supplementation and pregnancy complications.Journal of translational medicine · 2023Review
- Comparative Analysis of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) Content in Mother's Milk of Term and Preterm Mothers.Nutrients · 2022Observational
- Alterations in Essential Fatty Acids, Immunoglobulins (IgA, IgG, and IgM), and Enteric Methane Emission in Primiparous Sows Fed Hemp Seed Oil and Their Offspring Response.Veterinary sciences · 2022Article
- The importance of nutrition in pregnancy and lactation: lifelong consequences.American journal of obstetrics and gynecology · 2022Review
- Randomized controlled trial of early arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid enteral supplementation in very preterm infants.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2022Article
- The Role of Dietary Fats in the Development and Prevention of Necrotizing Enterocolitis.Nutrients · 2021Review
- Serum docosahexaenoic acid levels are associated with brain volumes in extremely preterm born infants.Pediatric research · 2021Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an essential fatty acid (FA) important for health and neurodevelopment. Premature infants are at risk of DHA deficiency and circulating levels directly correlate with health outcomes. Most supplementation strategies have focused on increasing DHA content in mother's milk or infant formula. However, extremely premature infants may not reach full feedings for weeks and commercially available parenteral lipid emulsions do not contain preformed DHA, so blood levels decline rapidly after birth. Our objective was to develop a DHA supplementation strategy to overcome these barriers. This double-blind, randomized, controlled trial determined feasibility, tolerability and efficacy of daily enteral DHA supplementation (50 mg/day) in addition to standard nutrition for preterm infants (24-34 weeks gestational age) beginning in the first week of life. Blood FA levels were analyzed at baseline, full feedings and near discharge in DHA (n = 31) or placebo supplemented (n = 29) preterm infants. Term peers (n = 30) were analyzed for comparison. Preterm infants had lower baseline DHA levels (p < 0.0001). Those receiving DHA had a progressive increase in circulating DHA over time (from 3.33 to 4.09 wt% or 2.88 to 3.55 mol%, p < 0.0001) while placebo-supplemented infants (receiving standard neonatal nutrition) had no increase over time (from 3.35 to 3.32 wt% or 2.91 to 2.87 mol%). Although levels increased with additional DHA supplementation, preterm infants still had lower blood DHA levels than term peers (4.97 wt% or 4.31 mol%) at discharge (p = 0.0002). No differences in adverse events were observed between the groups. Overall, daily enteral DHA supplementation is feasible and alleviates deficiency in premature infants.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.