ArticleProstaglandins, leukotrienes, and essential fatty acids2022
Red blood cell fatty acid patterns from 7 countries: Focus on the Omega-3 index.
Article in Prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and essential fatty acids, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Treatment on Risk for Atrial Fibrillation: An Updated Meta-Analysis of 35 Trials including 114 592 Individuals.Circulation. Arrhythmia and electrophysiology · 2026Pooled it
- Circulating Docosahexaenoic Acid and Risk of All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality.Mayo Clinic proceedings · 2024Pooled it
- Omega-3 and Risk of atrial fibrillation: Vagally-mediated double-edged sword.Progress in cardiovascular diseasesPooled it
- Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation affects tryptophan metabolism during a 12-week endurance training in amateur runners: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Inverse Association between the Omega-3 Index and Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio: Pooled Results from Four Supplementation Trials.The Journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Over Half of the United States Population Had an Undesirably Low Omega-3 Index Based on Erythrocyte Membrane Measurements: Results From the Cross-Sectional NHANES From August 2021 to August 2023.Current developments in nutrition · 2026Article
- Global Comparison of Erythrocyte EPA and DHA Concentrations in Pregnant Women.The Journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Polyunsaturated fatty acids and psychotic disorders: integrating mechanistic, genetic, and clinical evidence.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Associations Between Plasma Omega-3 and Fish Oil Use With Risk of Atrial Fibrillation in the UK Biobank.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Article
- Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Treatment on Risk for Atrial Fibrillation: An Updated Meta-Analysis of 34 Trials including 114,326 Individuals.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Article
- N-3 Fatty Acids (EPA and DHA) and Cardiovascular Health - Updated Review of Mechanisms and Clinical Outcomes.Current atherosclerosis reports · 2025Review
- Fatty acid intakes in healthy adults quantified using a food frequency questionnaire compared with red blood cell membrane fatty acid content: A validation study.Nutrition & dietetics : the journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia · 2025Article
- Association of two cut-off points for theThe British journal of nutrition · 2025Observational
- An inverse association of cerebral amyloid-β deposition and serum docosahexaenoic acid levels in cognitively normal older adults in Japan.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2025Article
- Plasma Fatty Acid Profiling and Mathematical Estimation of the Omega-3 Index: Toward Diagnostic Tools in Atherosclerosis and Statin Therapy Monitoring.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Recent studies confirm the utility of the omega-3 index.Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care · 2025Review
- Association of dietary intake of total fat and fatty acids with the Omega-3 Index: a cross-sectional analysis of NHANES 2011-2012.Nutrition research and practice · 2025Article
- An Optimized Ex Vivo n-3 PUFA Supplementation Strategy for Primary Human Macrophages Shows That DHA Suppresses Prostaglandin E2 Formation.Molecular nutrition & food research · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
22 authors at 15 institutions in 7 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Red blood cell (RBC) fatty acid (FA) patterns are becoming recognized as long-term biomarkers of tissue FA composition, but different analytical methods have complicated inter-study and international comparisons. Here we report RBC FA data, with a focus on the Omega-3 Index (EPA + DHA in% of total FAs in RBC), from samples of seven countries (USA, Canada, Italy, Spain, Germany, South Korea, and Japan) including 167,347 individuals (93% of all samples were from the US). FA data were generated by a uniform methodology from a variety of interventional and observational studies and from clinical laboratories. The cohorts differed in size, demographics, health status, and year of collection. Only the Canadian cohort was a formal, representative population-based survey. The mean Omega-3 Index of each country was categorized as desirable (>8%), moderate (>6% to 8%), low (>4% to 6%), or very low (≤4%). Only cohorts from Alaska (treated separately from the US), South Korea and Japan showed a desirable Omega-3 Index. The Spanish cohort had a moderate Omega-3 Index, while cohorts from the US, Canada, Italy, and Germany were all classified as low. This study is limited by the use of cohorts of convenience and small sample sizes in some countries. Countries undertaking national health status studies should utilize a uniform method to measure Omega-3 FA levels.
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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.