Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2020 Dec 4;12(12):3739.
doi: 10.3390/nu12123739.

Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Muscle Mass, Muscle Strength and Muscle Performance among the Elderly: A Meta-Analysis

Ya-Hui Huang  1   2 , Wan-Chun Chiu  3   4 , Yuan-Pin Hsu  1   5 , Yen-Li Lo  6 , Yuan-Hung Wang  1   7
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Muscle Mass, Muscle Strength and Muscle Performance among the Elderly: A Meta-Analysis

Ya-Hui Huang et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

There is increasing evidence showing the role of fatty acids and their derived lipid intermediates in the regulation of skeletal muscle mass synthesis and function. However, the role of omega-3 fatty acids remains unclear. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the potential effects of omega-3 fatty acids on sarcopenia-related performances among the elderly. Eligible literature and reports of randomized controlled trials were comprehensively searched from the PubMed, Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) databases until July 2018. A total of 10 articles were available for the meta-analysis. There were minor benefits for muscle mass gain (0.33 kg; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.62) and timed up and go performance (-0.30 s; 95% CI: -0.43, -0.17). Subgroup analyses regarding muscle mass and walk speed indicated that omega-3 fatty acid supplements at more than 2 g/day may contribute to muscle mass gain (0.67 kg; 95% CI: 0.16, 1.18) and improve walking speed, especially for those receiving more than 6 months of intervention (1.78 m/sec; 95% CI: 1.38, 2.17). Our findings provide some insight into the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on muscle mass, especially for those taking supplements at more than 2 g/day. We also observed that a long period of omega-3 fatty acids supplementation may improve walking speed.

Keywords: docosahexaenoic acid (DHA); eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA); elderly; n-3 PUFAs; omega-3 fatty acid; sarcopenia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Impact of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) on muscle mass, muscle strength, and muscle performance.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flow chart of the study selection. Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Summarized risk-of-bias graph for all included studies.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plot of the effect of n-3 PUFA supplementation on muscle mass. IV: inverse-variance method. Random: random effect. Weight (in %), the influence of an individual study on the pooled result.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Forest plot of the effect of n-3 PUFA supplementation on the timed up and go test result. IV: inverse-variance method. Random, random effect. Weight (in %): the influence of an individual study on the pooled result.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Forest plots of the included studies assessing the effect of n-3 PUFA supplementation on muscle mass categorized by the administration form of n-3 PUFAs. IV: inverse-variance method. Random: random effect. Weight (in %): the influence of an individual study on the pooled result.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Gale C.R., Westbury L.D., Cooper C., Dennison E.M. Risk factors for incident falls in older men and women: The English longitudinal study of ageing. BMC Geriatr. 2018;18:117. doi: 10.1186/s12877-018-0806-3. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division . World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision, Key Findings and Advance Tables. United Nations; New York, NY, USA: 2017. Working Paper No. ESA/WP/248.
    1. Cruz-Jentoft A.J., Baeyens J.P., Bauer J.M., Boirie Y., Cederholm T., Landi F., Martin F.C., Michel J.P., Rolland Y., Schneider S.M., et al. Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis: Report of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. Age Ageing. 2010;39:412–423. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afq034. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Woo J., Leung J., Morley J.E. Defining sarcopenia in terms of incident adverse outcomes. J. Am. Med. Dir. Assoc. 2015;16:247–252. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2014.11.013. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fried L.P., Guralnik J.M. Disability in older adults: Evidence regarding significance, etiology, and risk. J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 1997;45:92–100. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1997.tb00986.x. - DOI - PubMed