Table 2.

Effect of ω-3 fatty acid supplementation on plasma phospholipid fatty acid composition.

	Baseline	ω-3	Placebo	p Value
EPA	2.0±0.2	3.7±0.4	1.7±0.1	p<0.0001
DHA	4.8±0.3	5.6±0.2	4.4±0.3	p<0.0001
α-Linolenic acid	0.3±0.01	0.3±0.02	0.3±0.03	0.3
Arachidonic acid	12.5±0.4	11.0±0.3	11.6±0.5	0.0005
Linoleic acid	18.8±0.6	19.0±0.6	20.0±0.6	0.1
Palmitic acid	28.2±0.4	27.9±0.3	28.2±0.3	0.6
Stearic acid	13.8±0.3	14.1±0.2	13.9±0.2	0.4
Oleic acid	13.3±0.5	13.0±0.4	13.8±0.5	0.1

Mean±SEM. Data analysed using one-way ANOVA. p Values in the table are for the difference between the three means. p Values for individual comparisons are below.

EPA: baseline versus ω-3, p<0.0001; baseline versus placebo, p=NS; ω-3 versus placebo, p<0.0001.

DHA: baseline versus ω-3, p<0.01; baseline versus placebo, p=NS; ω-3 versus placebo, p<0.0001.

Arachidonic acid: baseline versus ω-3, p<0.001; baseline versus placebo, p=0.05; ω-3 versus placebo, p=NS.

EPA, Eicosapentaenoic acid; DHA, Docosahexaenoic acid.