SynthesisArchives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition2025
Effect of enteral supplementation of DHA with or without ARA in preterm infants: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cross-sectional description of early postnatal fatty acid patterns in delivered preterm infants.iScience · 2026Article
- DHA: Nutritional Programming During the First 1000 Days of Life.Nutrients · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThis study aimed to assess whether additional enteral docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation, with or without arachidonic acid (ARA), influences morbidities diagnosed in the neonatal intensive care unit among preterm infants, excluding administration via formula or parenteral nutrition. DESIGN AND
settingThis meta-analysis involved a comprehensive search of the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane Library databases from their inception to 9 June 2024. PATIENTS AND
interventionsRandomised controlled trials focusing on the effects of enteral DHA with or without ARA in preterm infants born at ≤34 weeks gestational age or a birth weight ≤2000 g were included. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The main outcomes included in-hospital mortality, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), necrotising enterocolitis (NEC), sepsis, intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH) and periventricular leukomalacia (PVL).
resultsEleven trials evaluating distinct adverse outcomes in preterm infants were incorporated. Of these, nine trials assessing enteral DHA supplementation with or without ARA indicated an increased risk of BPD with a relative risk of 1.11 (95% CI 1.00 to 1.22). Additionally, five trials assessing DHA supplementation without ARA showed an increased risk of BPD with a relative risk of 1.15 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.28). No significant effects were observed on the incidence of ROP, NEC, sepsis, IVH, PVL or in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Enteral supplementation of DHA with or without ARA did not demonstrate protective effects against major complications in preterm infants and even increased the risk of BPD. Further research is warranted to evaluate the necessity of DHA and ARA supplementation in this population. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42024552578.
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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.