Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38777807›Full record

SynthesisNutrition reviews2025

The effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on muscle and whole-body protein synthesis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Atiporn Therdyothin, Konstantinos Prokopidis, Francesco Galli, Oliver C Witard, Masoud Isanejad

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Nutrition reviews, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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  10. The Role of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Sarcopenia and Aging Muscle.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026
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  16. Veterinary world · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Atiporn TherdyothinDepartment of Musculoskeletal and Ageing Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L7 8TX, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0003-2013-0278
Konstantinos ProkopidisDepartment of Musculoskeletal and Ageing Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L7 8TX, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-6264-9388
Francesco GalliDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Perugia, Piazza dell'Università, 1, Perugia PG, 06123, Italy.
Oliver C WitardCentre of Human & Applied Physiological Research, King's College London, London, SE1 1UL, United Kingdom.
Masoud IsanejadDepartment of Musculoskeletal and Ageing Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L7 8TX, United Kingdom.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

contextSarcopenia describes the age-related decline in skeletal muscle mass and strength that is driven, at least in part, by an imbalance between rates of muscle protein synthesis (MPS) and muscle protein breakdown. An expanding body of literature has examined the effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) ingestion on MPS rates in older adults, with mixed findings.

objectiveThe aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the effectiveness of n-3 PUFA ingestion in stimulating rates of MPS and whole-body protein synthesis in healthy adults and clinical populations. DATA SOURCES: Searches were conducted of the PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Scopus databases from inception until December 2022 for articles on randomized controlled trials comparing the effect of n-3 PUFA ingestion vs a control or placebo on rates of MPS and whole-body protein synthesis. The search yielded 302 studies, of which 8 were eligible for inclusion. DATA EXTRACTION: The random effects inverse-variance model was used and standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95%CIs were calculated to assess the pooled effect. Risk of bias was assessed by the Cochrane Risk-of-Bias 2 tool. DATA ANALYSIS: The main analysis indicated no effect of n-3 PUFA supplementation on MPS rates (k = 6; SMD: 0.03; 95%CI, -0.35 to 0.40; I2 = 30%; P = .89). Subgroup analysis based on age, n-3 PUFA dose, duration of supplementation, and method used to measure fractional synthetic rate also revealed no effect of n-3 PUFA ingestion on MPS. In contrast, the main analysis demonstrated an effect of n-3 PUFA ingestion on increasing whole-body protein synthesis rates (k = 3; SMD: 0.51; 95%CI, 0.12-0.90; I2 = 0%; P = .01).

conclusionsn-3 PUFA ingestion augments the stimulation of whole-body protein synthesis rates in healthy adults and clinical populations. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration no. 42022366986.

Indexed as

Fatty Acids, Omega-3Muscle ProteinsMuscle, SkeletalDietary SupplementsHumansProtein BiosynthesisRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicSarcopeniaFatty Acids, Omega-3Muscle Proteinsfish oilfractional synthetic ratemuscle protein synthesisomega-3sarcopenia

Identifiers

PMID38777807
PMCPMC11723138

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.