The Study
Low dose supplementation with two different marine oils does not reduce pro-inflammatory eicosanoids and cytokines in vivo
This study gave two kinds of fish oil to 30 healthy people and checked if their inflammation went down. It found no change in inflammation, but did find a small increase in some good fats. We can say the oil didn't reduce inflammation in these people, but we can't say it will work the same for everyone.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
People took small daily doses of fish oil or mussel oil for six weeks to see if it calmed down body inflammation.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 553 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Even though blood fats changed, the body didn't show less inflammation — so these tiny doses didn't help reduce inflammation in healthy people.
- 2Both oils raised EPA in blood cells by 15–20%; mussel oil also raised DHA; none of the inflammation markers (like PGE2 or TNF-alpha) went down.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition
Year
2006
Authors
Murphy KJ, Galvin K, Kiely M, Morrissey PA, Mann NJ, Sinclair AJ
Related Content
Claims (4)
Higher consumption of omega-3 fatty acids from food leads to lower levels of prostaglandin E2 in humans.
Taking 173–199 mg per day of marine omega-3 fatty acids for six weeks does not lower levels of serum thromboxane B2, monocyte prostaglandin E2, interleukin-1 beta, or tumor necrosis factor alpha in healthy adults, even though it increases eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in neutrophil phospholipids.
Taking 2 mL of fish oil or green-lipped mussel oil daily for six weeks raises levels of eicosapentaenoic acid by 15–20% and docosahexaenoic acid in neutrophil phospholipids of healthy adults, without altering inflammatory markers.
Taking 173–199 mg per day of omega-3 fatty acids from fish or green-lipped mussel oil for six weeks increases neutrophil eicosapentaenoic acid to the same degree in healthy adults, but only mussel oil increases neutrophil docosahexaenoic acid.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.