Conclusions Short-term fish oil supplementation is associated with increasing the insulin sensitivity among those people with metabolic disorders
Background Fish oil supplementation has been shown to be associated with a lower risk of metabolic syndrome and benefit a wide range of chronic diseases , such as cardiovascular disease , type 2 diabetes and several types of cancers .
However , the evidence of fish oil supplementation on glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity is still controversial .
This meta- analysis summarized the exist evidence of the relationship between fish oil supplementation and insulin sensitivity and aim ed to evaluate whether fish oil supplementation could improve insulin sensitivity .
Docosahexaenoic acid supplementation improved lipocentric but not glucocentric markers of insulin sensitivity in hypertriglyceridemic men.
BACKGROUND Increase in obesity and metabolic syndrome are associated with increases in insulin resistance ( IR ) and type 2 diabetes mellitus . Results from animal intervention studies and human epidemiological studies suggest that n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids can prevent and reverse IR , but results from human intervention studies have varied . Results from some human and animal studies suggest that docosahexaenoic acid ( 22:6n-3 ; DHA ) may be more effective than eicosapentaenoic acid ( 20:5n-3 ; EPA ) in the prevention of IR . METHODS By using a placebo-controlled , parallel study design , we examined the effects of DHA supplementation ( 3 grams/day , 90 days ) in the absence of EPA on glucocentric and lipocentric markers of IR in hypertriglyceridemic men ( n=14 - 17/group ) . RESULTS DHA supplementation increased fasting plasma glucose concentration by 4.7 % ( P<0.05 ) , but did not alter other indices of IR based on fasting ( insulin and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance [ HOMA-IR ] ) or postpr and ial insulin and glucose concentrations ( areas under curves for insulin and glucose , Matsuda index ) . Glucose increased by 2.7 % in the placebo group and was not significant ; increases in glucose in the two groups did not differ from each other . DHA decreased circulating concentrations of several lipocentric markers of IR , including plasma concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids ( 13.0 % ) , small , dense low-density lipoprotein ( LDL ) particles ( 21.7 % ) , and ratio of tryglycerides to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( TG/HDL-C ) ( 34.0 % ) ( P<0.05 ) . None of the variables changed in the placebo group . CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that lipocentric markers of IR are more responsive to DHA supplementation than the glucocentric markers . Future studies with  DHA  in prediabetic subjects and direct measures of insulin sensitivity are needed
Conclusions Short-term fish oil supplementation is associated with increasing the insulin sensitivity among those people with metabolic disorders
Background Fish oil supplementation has been shown to be associated with a lower risk of metabolic syndrome and benefit a wide range of chronic diseases , such as cardiovascular disease , type 2 diabetes and several types of cancers .
However , the evidence of fish oil supplementation on glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity is still controversial .
This meta- analysis summarized the exist evidence of the relationship between fish oil supplementation and insulin sensitivity and aim ed to evaluate whether fish oil supplementation could improve insulin sensitivity .