TABLE 2.

Plasma RBC FA in adults with metabolic syndrome at baseline and 8-wk changes after treatment with low high doses of fish or flax oil or placebo¹

RBC FA	P	LFx	HFx	LFO	HFO	P value
ALA, 18:3 (n-3)	%
Baseline	0.43 ± 0.12	0.43 ± 0.14	0.40 ± 0.12	0.54 ± 0.14	0.34 ± 0.13
8-wk change	0.01 ± 0.02a	0.38 ± 0.14b	0.90 ± 0.31b	−0.02 ± 0.06a	−0.09 ± 0.05a	0.0003
EPA, 20:5 (n-3)
Baseline	1.02 ± 0.20	0.68 ± 0.12	0.69 ± 0.19	0.98 ± 0.29	1.31 ± 0.38
8-wk change	−0.01 ± 0.06a	0.21 ± 0.17a,b	0.45 ± 0.10b	1.26 ± 0.26c	4.50 ± 1.23c	<0.0001
DHA, 22:6 (n-3)
Baseline	4.76 ± 0.42	4.30 ± 0.24	4.13 ± 0.43	3.94 ± 0.39	5.46 ± 0.40
8-wk change	−0.41 ± 0.12a	−0.34 ± 0.13a	−0.58 ± 0.10a	1.56 ± 0.26b	2.23 ± 0.30b	<0.0001

¹Data are means ± SE, = 15–17. Sample sizes are smaller than total number of participants randomized to each group because RBC were not collected for the first 20 participants. Means in a row with superscripts without a common letter differ, P < 0.05. ALA, EPA, and DHA at baseline did not differ among groups. ALA, α-linolenic acid; FA, fatty acid; HFO, high-dose fish oil; HFx, high-dose flaxseed oil; LFO, low-dose fish oil; LFx, low-dose flaxseed oil; P, placebo.