Effects of EPA+DHA and Corn Oil Supplementation on PUFA Concentrations across Plasma Lipid Pools and on Downstream Oxylipins: Exploratory Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Healthy Humans.

EPA+DHA supplementation increased EPA levels across all four major plasma lipid pools measured.

• EPA levels were elevated in phosphatidylcholines (PC), cholesteryl esters (CE), nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA), and triglycerides (TAG) following supplementation.
• The supplementation dose was 3 g of EPA+DHA concentrate daily (1.1 g EPA + 0.8 g DHA) for 12 weeks.
• The exploratory analysis included n=21 participants (20 female, 1 male, age 35-49 years).
• This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial (ISRCTN96712688).

EPA+DHA supplementation increased DHA levels in three of the four plasma lipid pools examined.

• DHA levels were significantly increased in PC, CE, and TAG pools following EPA+DHA supplementation.
• DHA incorporation was not reported as significantly increased in the NEFA pool.
• Plasma was analyzed using gas chromatography to quantify fatty acids.

EPA+DHA supplementation decreased linoleic acid (LA) levels in multiple plasma lipid pools.

• LA levels were decreased in PC, CE, and NEFA pools following EPA+DHA supplementation.
• The corn oil comparator provided 1.65 g LA + 0.81 g oleic acid daily.
• LA displacement from plasma lipid pools may reflect competitive incorporation dynamics between n-6 and n-3 fatty acids.

EPA+DHA supplementation decreased arachidonic acid (AA) levels in plasma PC and NEFA pools.

• AA reductions were observed specifically in the PC and NEFA fractions.
• AA is an n-6 precursor to proinflammatory oxylipins, and its reduction in key lipid pools may have downstream anti-inflammatory implications.
• The supplementation period was 12 weeks.

EPA+DHA supplementation produced significant shifts in plasma oxylipin concentrations compared with baseline, with predominant increases in anti-inflammatory and decreases in proinflammatory oxylipins.

• Oxylipins were quantified using mass spectrometry.
• The shifts in oxylipin profile were observed in comparison to both baseline values and the corn oil control group.
• Levels of EPA+DHA-derived oxylipins were significantly higher across lipid pools following EPA+DHA supplementation compared with corn oil.

Corn oil supplementation decreased AA levels in the TAG pool and modified concentrations of several AA-derived oxylipins.

• The corn oil group received 1.65 g linoleic acid + 0.81 g oleic acid daily for 12 weeks.
• Corn oil supplementation had its own distinct effect on AA-derived oxylipin concentrations.
• The specific direction and identity of affected AA-derived oxylipins were noted as changes from baseline in the corn oil group.

The study population for this exploratory analysis was predominantly female and middle-aged.

• The exploratory analysis used available samples of n=21 participants.
• Demographics were 20 female and 1 male, aged 35-49 years.
• Participants were described as healthy adults from a previously conducted randomized controlled trial.
• The original trial was registered at www.isrctn.com as ISRCTN96712688.