Table 1.
Study and participant characteristics of the included studies in the meta-analysis
| Study year | Country | Study design | Total | Omega-3 | Placebo | Treatment dose (g/day) | Treatment duration | Control group | Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (M/F) | Age | n (M/F) | Age | n (M/F) | Age | |||||||
| Palomas 2021 | Spain | Double-blind RCT | 43 (31/12) | 75.5 (8.7) | 20 (14/6) | 76 (7.7) | 23 (17/6) | 75 (9.6) | 4 | 4 weeks | Placebo (gelatin) | CRP |
| Oikonomou 2018 | Greece | Double-blind cross-over trial | 31 (23/8) | 66.5 (5.5) | 15 (11/4) | 66 (4) | 16 (12/4) | 67 (7) | 2 | 8 weeks (× 2) + 6-week washout period | Placebo (olive oil) | hsCRP |
| Wurm 2018 | Austria | Double-blind RCT | 40 (34/6) | 59.7 (8.0) |
1 g: 12 (10/2) 4 g: 12 (12/0) |
1 g: 59 (54–63) 4 g: 64 (58–66) |
16 (12/4) | 56 (46–63) | 1 or 4 | 12 weeks | Placebo | CRP |
| Makarewicz-Wujec 2017 | Poland | Double-blind RCT | 30 (26/4) | 64.56 (1.06) | 15 (13/2) | 67.5 (0.7) | 15 (13/2) | 62.06 (1.41) | 1 | 12 weeks | Placebo (corn oil) |
hsCRP MCP-1 |
| Heydari 2016 | USA | Double-blind RCT | 358 (288/70) | 180 (148/32) | 60 (10) | 178 (140/38) | 58 (10) | 4 | 6 months | Placebo (corn oil) | hsCRP | |
| Moertl 2011 | Austria | Double-blind RCT | 43 (37/6) | 58.7 (9.8) | 1 g: 14 (12/2), 4 g: 13 (13/0) | 1 g: 59 (7), 4 g: 61.9 (9.6) | 16 (12/4) | 55.1 (12.7) | 1 or 4 | 12 weeks | Placebo (gelatin) |
TNF-a IL-6 |
| Nodari 2011 | USA | Double-blind RCT | 133 (120/13) | 62.5 (10.0) | 67 (64/3) | 61 (11) | 66 (56/10) | 64 (9) | 2 | 12 months | Placebo (olive oil) |
TNF-a IL-6 IL-1 |
| Eschen 2010 | Italy | Double-blind RCT | 138 (118/20) | 59.5 (9.0) | 69 (57/12) | 58 (10) | 69 (61/8) | 61 (8) | 0.9 | 24 weeks | Placebo (olive oil) |
hsCRP ICAM-1 VCAM-1 |
| Nodari 2009 | Italy | Double-blind RCT | 44 (40/4) | 62.96 (10.29) | 22 (21/1) | 61.09 (11.22) | 22 (19/3) | 64.82 (9.46) | 1 | 6 months | Placebo (olive oil) |
TNF-a IL-6 IL-1 |
| Zhao 2009 | China | Single-blind RCT | 75 (55/20) | 72.5 (8.0) | 38 (27/11) | 74 (6) | 37 (28/9) | 71 (10) | 2 | 3 months | Placebo |
TNF-a IL-6 hsCRP ICAM-1 VCAM-1 |
| Mehra 2006 | USA | Double-blind RCT | 14 (12/2) | 60.5 (7.5) | 7 (6/1) | 59 (7) | 7 (6/1) | 61 (8) | 8 | 18 weeks | Placebo (corn oil) |
TNF-a IL-1 |
CRP c-reactive protein, hsCRP high-sensitivity c-reactive protein, ICAM-1 intercellular adhesion molecule 1, IL interleukin, MCP-1 monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, TNF-a tumour necrosis factor-alpha, VCAM-1 vascular cell adhesion molecule 1
Values are expressed as mean ± SD