Incorporation of EPA and DHA into plasma phospholipids in response to different omega-3 fatty acid formulations - A comparative bioavailability study of fish oil vs. krill oil
Creators: name: Schuchardt, Jan Philipp
name: Schneider, Inga
name: Meyer, Henrike
name: Neubronner, Juliane
name: Schacky, C. Von
name: Hahn, Andreas
Publisher: name: London : BioMed Central Ltd.
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: absorption
subject: bioavailability
subject: ethyl esters
subject: fish oil
subject: krill oil
subject: re-esterified triacylglycerides
subject: uptake
subject: docosahexaenoic acid
subject: edible oil
subject: icosapentaenoic acid
subject: nko
subject: omega 3 fatty acid
subject: phospholipid
subject: unclassified drug
subject: adult
subject: area under the curve
subject: article
subject: body weight
subject: controlled study
subject: crossover procedure
subject: diet supplementation
subject: double blind procedure
subject: drug bioavailability
subject: drug blood level
subject: drug formulation
subject: human
subject: human experiment
subject: intermethod comparison
subject: male
subject: maximum plasma concentration
subject: normal human
subject: phospholipid blood level
subject: randomized controlled trial
subject: time to maximum plasma concentration
subject: animal
subject: blood
subject: chemistry
subject: clinical trial
subject: comparative study
subject: controlled clinical trial
subject: Euphausiacea
subject: Adult
subject: Animals
subject: Area Under Curve
subject: Chemistry, Pharmaceutical
subject: Docosahexaenoic Acids
subject: Double-Blind Method
subject: Eicosapentaenoic Acid
subject: Fish Oils
subject: Humans
subject: Male
subject: Phospholipids
subject: Dewey Decimal Classification::500 | Naturwissenschaften
subject: Dewey Decimal Classification::500 | Naturwissenschaften::570 | Biowissenschaften, Biologie

description: Background: Bioavailability of omega-3 fatty acids (FA) depends on their chemical form. Superior bioavailability has been suggested for phospholipid (PL) bound omega-3 FA in krill oil, but identical doses of different chemical forms have not been compared. Methods. In a double-blinded crossover trial, we compared the uptake of three EPA+DHA formulations derived from fish oil (re-esterified triacylglycerides [rTAG], ethyl-esters [EE]) and krill oil (mainly PL). Changes of the FA compositions in plasma PL were used as a proxy for bioavailability. Twelve healthy young men (mean age 31 y) were randomized to 1680 mg EPA+DHA given either as rTAG, EE or krill oil. FA levels in plasma PL were analyzed pre-dose and 2, 4, 6, 8, 24, 48, and 72 h after capsule ingestion. Additionally, the proportion of free EPA and DHA in the applied supplements was analyzed. Results: The highest incorporation of EPA+DHA into plasma PL was provoked by krill oil (mean AUC 0-72 h: 80.03 34.71%*h), followed by fish oil rTAG (mean AUC 0-72 h: 59.78 36.75%*h) and EE (mean AUC 0-72 h: 47.53 38.42%*h). Due to high standard deviation values, there were no significant differences for DHA and the sum of EPA+DHA levels between the three treatments. However, a trend (p = 0.057) was observed for the differences in EPA bioavailability. Statistical pair-wise group comparison's revealed a trend (p = 0.086) between rTAG and krill oil. FA analysis of the supplements showed that the krill oil sample contained 22% of the total EPA amount as free EPA and 21% of the total DHA amount as free DHA, while the two fish oil samples did not contain any free FA. Conclusion: Further studies with a larger sample size carried out over a longer period are needed to substantiate our findings and to determine differences in EPA+DHA bioavailability between three common chemical forms of LC n-3 FA (rTAG, EE and krill oil). The unexpected high content of free EPA and DHA in krill oil, which might have a significant influence on the availability of EPA+DHA from krill oil, should be investigated in more depth and taken into consideration in future trials.