ArticleNature communications2021
Blood n-3 fatty acid levels and total and cause-specific mortality from 17 prospective studies.
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In one paragraph
Article in Nature communications, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 126 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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126citing papers in PubMed, 14 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
126 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Treatment on Risk for Atrial Fibrillation: An Updated Meta-Analysis of 35 Trials including 114 592 Individuals.Circulation. Arrhythmia and electrophysiology · 2026Pooled it
- Sex Differences in Omega-3 and Omega-6 PUFA Status: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Cross-Sectional Comparisons.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Pooled it
- Circulating Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Levels in Coronary Heart Disease: Pooled Analysis of 36 Observational Studies.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Circulating Docosahexaenoic Acid and Risk of All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality.Mayo Clinic proceedings · 2024Pooled it
- Interaction of Vitamin D Supplements and MarineNutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Current Trends in Biohumoral Screening for the Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death: A Systematic Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Pooled it
- The differential effects of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid on cardiovascular risk factors: an updated systematic review of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- The effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake on blood levels of omega-3s in people with chronic atherosclerotic disease: a systematic review.Nutrition reviews · 2023Pooled it
- The Potential Cardiometabolic Effects of Long-Chain ω-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: Recent Updates and Controversies.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2023Pooled it
- Association of omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids with incident chronic kidney disease: pooled analysis of 19 cohorts.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2023Pooled it
- Impact of α-Linolenic Acid, the Vegetable ω-3 Fatty Acid, on Cardiovascular Disease and Cognition.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2022Pooled it
- Dietary intake and biomarkers of alpha linolenic acid and risk of all cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of cohort studies.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Dietary Intake and Biomarkers of α-Linolenic Acid and Mortality: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies.Frontiers in nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Krill Oil Supplementation for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain in Older Adults.The Journal of nutrition · 2026Trial
- Reduction of cardiovascular risk factors by the diet - Evaluation of the MoKaRi concept by a parallel-designed randomized study.Lipids in health and disease · 2025Trial
- Impact of Regular Intake of Microalgae on Nutrient Supply and Cardiovascular Risk Factors: Results from the NovAL Intervention Study.Nutrients · 2023Trial
- A Head-to-Head Comparison of a Free Fatty Acid Formulation of Omega-3 Pentaenoic Acids Versus Icosapent Ethyl in Adults With Hypertriglyceridemia: The ENHANCE-IT Study.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2022Trial
- Relationships Between Omega-3 Index and Cardiometabolic Disease Risk Factors in Collegiate Athletes.Nutrients · 2026Article
- n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Improve DSS-Induced Acute Colitis in Mice via Intestinal Barrier Fortification and Gut Microbiome Modulation.Digestive diseases and sciences · 2026Article
66 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
57 authors.
William S HarrisDepartment of Internal Medicine, Sanford School of Medicine, University of South Dakota, Sioux Falls, SD, USA. wsh@faresinst.com.
Nathan L TintleThe Fatty Acid Research Institute, Sioux Falls, SD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1447-9107
Fumiaki ImamuraMRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6841-8396
Frank QianDepartment of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Andres V Ardisson KoratDepartment of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Matti MarklundThe George Institute for Global Health and the Faculty of Medicine, University New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Luc DjousséDepartment of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Julie K BassettCancer Epidemiology Division, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Pierre-Hugues CarmichaelCentre D'excellence Sur le Vieillissement de Québec, CIUSSS-CN, Quebec, QC, Canada.
Yun-Yu ChenDepartment of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital; and Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Yoichiro HirakawaDepartment of Medicine and Clinical Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Leanne K KüpersDivision of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Federica LaguzziInstitute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Maria LankinenInstitute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
Rachel A MurphyCancer Control Research, BC Cancer Agency; and School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Cécilia SamieriBordeaux Population Health Research Centre, INSERM, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
Mackenzie K SennUSDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
Peilin ShiFreidman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
Jyrki K VirtanenInstitute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0648-999X
Ingeborg A BrouwerDepartment of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam and Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Kuo-Liong ChienInstitute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Gudny EiriksdottirIcelandic Heart Association, Kopavogur, Iceland.
Nita G ForouhiMRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5041-248X
Johanna M GeleijnseDivision of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7638-0589
Graham G GilesCentre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4946-9099
Vilmundur GudnasonIcelandic Heart Association, Kopavogur, Iceland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5696-0084
Catherine HelmerBordeaux Population Health Research Centre, INSERM, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
Allison HodgeCentre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5464-2197
Rebecca JacksonDepartment of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Kay-Tee KhawMRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, UK.
Markku LaaksoInstitute of Clinical Medicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3394-7749
Heidi LaiFreidman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
Danielle LaurinCentre D'excellence Sur le Vieillissement de Québec, CIUSSS-CN, Quebec, QC, Canada.
Karin LeanderInstitute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Joan LindsaySchool of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
Renata MichaFreidman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
Jaako MursuInstitute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
Toshiharu NinomiyaDepartment of Epidemiology and Public Health, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Wendy PostCancer Epidemiology Division, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Bruce M PsatyCardiovascular Health Research Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Ulf RisérusDepartment of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Jennifer G RobinsonDepartment of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Aladdin H ShadyabDepartment of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Linda SnetselaarDepartment of Epidemiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Aleix Sala-VilaThe Fatty Acid Research Institute, Sioux Falls, SD, USA.
Yangbo SunDepartment of Epidemiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Lyn M SteffenSchool of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Michael Y TsaiDepartment of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Nicholas J WarehamMRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1422-2993
Alexis C WoodUSDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
Jason H Y WuThe George Institute for Global Health and the Faculty of Medicine, University New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Frank HuDepartment of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Qi SunDepartment of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8480-1563
David S SiscovickThe New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Rozenn N LemaitreCardiovascular Health Research Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7038-1844
Dariush MozaffarianFreidman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7958-9492
Fatty Acids and Outcomes Research Consortium (FORCE)
Funding
Training Program in Cancer EpidemiologyT32CA009001 · NCI · HARVARD UNIVERSITY (SCH OF PUBLIC HLTH) · PI A. Heather Eliassen, Meir Stampfer · 1985 to 2026
$17.3MMedical Research Council MC_UU_00006/1Medical Research Council MC_UU_00006/3Medical Research Council MC_UU_12015/1Medical Research Council MC_UU_12015/5NCI NIH HHS T32 CA009001
Abstract
The health effects of omega-3 fatty acids have been controversial. Here we report the results of a de novo pooled analysis conducted with data from 17 prospective cohort studies examining the associations between blood omega-3 fatty acid levels and risk for all-cause mortality. Over a median of 16 years of follow-up, 15,720 deaths occurred among 42,466 individuals. We found that, after multivariable adjustment for relevant risk factors, risk for death from all causes was significantly lower (by 15-18%, at least p < 0.003) in the highest vs the lowest quintile for circulating long chain (20-22 carbon) omega-3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic, docosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids). Similar relationships were seen for death from cardiovascular disease, cancer and other causes. No associations were seen with the 18-carbon omega-3, alpha-linolenic acid. These findings suggest that higher circulating levels of marine n-3 PUFA are associated with a lower risk of premature death.
Indexed as
Cause of DeathMortality, PrematureAgedAged, 80 and overFatty Acids, Omega-3FemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesProtective FactorsRisk FactorsFatty Acids, Omega-3
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What Socratic holds
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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.