Higher omega-3 levels linked with high protection from severe Covid

WASHINGTON: A higher level of omega-3 fatty acids may be associated with an increased protection from severe COVID-19 infection, according to a study.

The research, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN), explored the role of omega-3 fatty acids, especially EPA and DHA, and whether they might be protective against contracting or suffering adverse outcomes of COVID-19.

The researchers from Fatty Acid Research Institute (FARI) and the University of South Dakota, US compared the risk for three COVID-19 outcomes: testing positive, hospitalisation, and death as a function of baseline plasma DHA levels.

DHA levels (percentage of total fatty acids) were measured by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy but were converted to Omega-3 Index (percentage of EPA+DHA in red blood cell) for this analysis.

The three outcomes were available for 110,584 subjects (hospitalisation and death) and for 26,595 ever-tested subjects (positive COVID-19 PCR test result).

These COVID-19 outcomes were assessed between January 2020 and March 2021.

In the fully adjusted models, subjects with the highest Omega-3 Index levels were 21 per cent less likely to test positive than those with lowest levels, the researchers said.

The risk for a positive test was 8 per cent lower for each 1-SD (standard deviation) increase in plasma DHA percentage, they said.

Subjects with the highest Omega-3 Index levels were also 26 per cent less likely to be hospitalised than those with lowest levels, and risk for hospitalisation was 11 per cent lower per 1-SD increase in DHA percentage, the researchers said.

The team noted that South Korea and Japan have reported an extremely low severity of COVID-19 disease.

Although masking practices, social distancing policies and other population-wide interventions contributed to this, they noted that the Omega-3 Index values of healthy South Korean and Japanese individuals are about 8-12 per cent and 7–11 per cent respectively, which is much higher compared to those of 4-5 per cent in Western populations such as the US.

“This study confirms previous findings that low omega-3 status is associated with increased risk for hospitalisation with COVID-19,” said William S. Harris, President, FARI.

“We extended these findings by also showing reduced risk for testing positive with the infection and by providing evidence that the risk for death may also be reduced,” Harris added.