Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23029372›Full record

SynthesisPloS one2012

Effect of fish oil supplementation on fasting vascular endothelial function in humans: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Wei Xin, Wei Wei, Xiaoying Li

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
4.8field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. Mercury Exposure and Heart Rate Variability: a Systematic Review.Current environmental health reports · 2015
    Pooled it
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  8. Trial
  9. Trial
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Review
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  16. CORP: Ultrasound assessment of vascular function with the passive leg movement technique.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2017
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Mercury, selenium and fish oils in marine food webs and implications for human health.Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom · 2016
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Wei XinFirst Department of Geriatric Cardiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, PR China.
Wei Wei
Xiaoying Li
Chinese PLA General Hospital · CNNankai University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEffect of fish oil supplementation on flow-mediated dilation, an index of endothelial function in humans, remains controversial. We performed a meta-analysis to determine whether fish oil supplementation could improve endothelial function.

methodsHuman intervention studies were identified by systematic searches of Medline, Embase, Cochrane's library and references of related reviews and studies. A random-effect model was applied to estimate the pooled results. Meta-regression and subgroup analyses were performed to evaluate the impact of study characteristics on the effect of fish oil supplementation on flow-mediated dilation.

resultsA total of sixteen records with 1,385 subjects were reviewed. The results of the pooled analysis showed that fish oil supplementation significantly improved flow-mediated dilation (weighed mean difference: 1.49%, 95% confidence interval 0.48% to 2.50%, p = 0.004). Meta-regression and subgroup analysis suggested that the quality of included studies were inversely related to the overall effect (regression coefficient  = -1.60, p = 0.04), and the significance of the effect was mainly driven by the studies with relatively poor quality. Sensitivity analysis including only double-blind, placebo-controlled studies indicated fish oil supplementation has no significant effect on endothelial function (weighed mean difference: 0.54%, 95% confidence interval -0.25% to 1.33%, p = 0.18). Besides, normoglycemic subjects or participants with lower diastolic blood pressure seemed to be associated with remarkable improvement of endothelial function after fish oil supplementation.

conclusionsAlthough current evidence suggested a possible role of fish oil in improving endothelial function, large-scale and high-quality clinical trials are needed to evaluate these effects before we can come to a definite conclusion.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultBrachial ArteryDietary SupplementsDouble-Blind MethodEndothelium, VascularFemaleFish OilsHumansMaleMiddle AgedPlacebo EffectRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicVasodilationYoung AdultFish Oils

Identifiers

PMID23029372
PMCPMC3448723
OpenAlexW1974686353

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.