Omega-3 fatty acids in the treatment of acute lung injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have compared the treatment of acute lung injury (ALI) with or without omega-3 fatty acids, yet the results remained inconsistent. Therefore, we attempted this meta-analysis to analyze the role of T Omega-3 fatty acids in the treatment of ALI patients. Methods: We searched PubMed et al databases from inception date to Oct 31, 2019 for RCTs that compared the treatment of ALI with or without omega-3 fatty acids. Two authors independently screened the studies and extracted data from the published articles. Summary mean differences (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for each outcome by means of fixed- or random-effects model. Results: Six RCTs with a total of 277 patients were identified, with 142 with omega-3 fatty acids treatment and 135 without omega-3 fatty acids treatment. Omega-3 fatty acids treatments significantly improve the PaO 2 (MD =13.82, 95%CI 8.55– 19.09), PaO 2 /FiO 2 (MD =33.47, 95% CI 24.22– 42.72), total protein (MD =2.02, 95% CI 0.43– 3.62) in ALI patients; furthermore, Omega-3 fatty acids treatments reduced the duration of mechanical ventilation (MD =-1.72, 95% CI -2.84– -0.60) and intensive care unit stay (MD =-1.29, 95% CI -2.14– -0.43) in ALI patients. Conclusions: Omega-3 fatty acids can effectively improve the respiratory function and promote the recovery of ALI patients. More studies focused on the long-term efficacy and safety of omega-3 fatty acids use for ALI are needed.