SynthesisProgress in cardiovascular diseases
Omega-3 and Risk of atrial fibrillation: Vagally-mediated double-edged sword.
Synthesis in Progress in cardiovascular diseases. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline 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
- Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Atrial Fibrillation: Friend or Foe?Journal of atherosclerosis and thrombosis · 2026Article
- Association Between Plasma Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acid Levels and Atrial Fibrillation: A Large-Scale, Real-World Retrospective Study in Japan.Journal of atherosclerosis and thrombosis · 2026Article
- Review
- Associations Between Plasma Omega-3 and Fish Oil Use With Risk of Atrial Fibrillation in the UK Biobank.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Article
- Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Treatment on Risk for Atrial Fibrillation: An Updated Meta-Analysis of 34 Trials including 114,326 Individuals.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- N-3 Fatty Acids (EPA and DHA) and Cardiovascular Health - Updated Review of Mechanisms and Clinical Outcomes.Current atherosclerosis reports · 2025Review
- Functional Ingredients: From Molecule to Market-AI-Enabled Design, Bioavailability, Consumer Impact, and Clinical Evidence.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Lipid-lowering agents in solid organ transplant recipients.Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveStudies regarding effects of omega-3 fatty acids, specifically eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), on risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) have reported discordant results. The aim of this review is to clarify effects of marine omega-3 intake on risk of AF. PATIENTS AND
methodsA PubMed search was performed using terms: atrial fibrillation, omega-3, EPA, DHA, vagal tone. We summarized findings from randomized clinical trials (RCTs), epidemiology studies, and meta-analyses evaluating effects/associations of DHA + EPA on risk of AF. Also, vagal tone was explored as a mediator between omega-3 and risk of AF.
resultsMeta-analyses of 8 RCTs and 17 prospective cohort studies comprised of 83,112 and 54,799 individuals, respectively, investigated the link between omega-3 intake and incident AF. The RCTs reported that treatment with DHA and/or EPA was associated with a 24 % increased relative risk of AF (absolute risk 4.0 % vs 3.3 %; relative risk [RR] 1.24, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.11-1.38, p = 0.0002). This was dose-dependent; DHA + EPA doses of ∼1000 mg/d increased AF risk ∼12 %, whereas 1800 to 4000 mg/d increased AF risk by ∼50 %. In contrast, observational studies focused on DHA + EPA blood levels or dietary intake have generally reported that higher omega-3 levels/consumption are associated with lower AF risk. Maximal AF risk reduction. (12 %) occurred at ∼650 mg/d of dietary DHA + EPA. Other studies have indicated that omega-3 fatty acids can dose-dependently increase vagal tone, which could explain the biphasic relationship between DHA + EPA and AF risk. Experimental studies show that low-level vagal stimulation decreases risk of AF, whereas high-level vagal stimulation increases risk of AF.
conclusionHigher consumption of dietary omega-3 is associated with decreased AF risk. In contrast, pharmaceutical dosing of omega-3 increases AF in a dose-dependent manner, which may be mediated by vagal tone.
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Registered trials
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.