Table 2. Changes in Erythrocyte Fatty Acid Levelsa.
| Erythrocyte Fatty Acidb | Median (IQR), mol% | Change, Mean (SD), mol% | Difference in Change (95% CI), mol% | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline | End of Trial | ||||||
| DHA+AA (n = 99) | Placebo (n = 106) | DHA+AA (n = 85) | Placebo (n = 88) | DHA+AA | Placebo | ||
| Linoleic acid (18:2n-6) | 30.2 (27.6 to 32.6) | 29.3 (26.6 to 31.9) | 28.5 (24.9 to 31.2) | 29.9 (27.2 to 32.6) | −2.1 (5.2) | 0.6 (4.4) | −2.2 (−3.4 to −0.9) |
| Arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) | 5.7 (4.9 to 6.6) | 5.6 (4.8 to 6.4) | 7.7 (6.0 to 9.4) | 5.4 (4.5 to 6.2) | 2.0 (2.6) | −0.2 (1.1) | 2.2 (1.7 to 2.8) |
| Total n-6 | 37.3 (34.1 to 39.4) | 36.0 (33.7 to 38.9) | 37.5 (33.8 to 40.2) | 37.1 (33.6 to 39.7) | 0.2 (6.0) | 0.4 (5.0) | 0.4 (−1.0 to 1.7) |
| α-Linolenic acid (18:3n-3) | 0.7 (0.5 to 0.9) | 0.7 (0.5 to 0.9) | 0.6 (0.5 to 0.8) | 0.6 (0.5 to 0.7) | −0.1 (0.4) | 0.0 (0.3) | 0.0 (−0.1 to 0.1) |
| Eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3) | 0.4 (0.3 to 0.4) | 0.4 (0.3 to 0.4) | 0.3 (0.3 to 0.4) | 0.3 (0.3 to 0.4) | 0.0 (0.1) | −0.1 (0.2) | 0.0 (0.0 to 0.1) |
| Docosapentaenoic acid (22:5n-3) | 0.4 (0.4 to 0.5) | 0.4 (0.4 to 0.5) | 0.3 (0.3 to 0.4) | 0.4 (0.4 to 0.5) | −0.1 (0.1) | 0.0 (0.1) | −0.1 (−0.1 to 0.0) |
| Docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) | 1.0 (0.8 to 1.1) | 0.9 (0.8 to 1.1) | 2.3 (1.1 to 3.0) | 0.8 (0.7 to 1.1) | 1.1 (1.0) | −0.1 (0.2) | 1.2 (1.0 to 1.5) |
| Total n-3 | 2.5 (2.2 to 2.8) | 2.5 (2.3 to 2.8) | 3.6 (2.6 to 4.3) | 2.3 (2.1 to 2.6) | 0.9 (1.1) | −0.2 (0.5) | 1.2 (0.9 to 1.4) |
| n-6:n-3 ratio | 14.9 (13.0 to 16.4) | 14.4 (12.7 to 15.6) | 10.6 (8.4 to 12.8) | 15.9 (14.2 to 17.8) | −3.2 (3.9) | 1.6 (2.8) | −4.6 (−5.5 to −3.7) |
Abbreviations: AA, arachidonic acid; DHA, docosahexaenoic acid; IQR, interquartile range; mol%, percentage of total quantified fatty acids.
a
A total of 205 children had analyzable samples at the baseline visit.
b
The DHA+AA supplement contained only DHA and AA. Because units are determined as a percentage of total fatty acids, other fatty acids may show a decrease because DHA and AA increased.