Effects of Periconceptual Omega-3-Fatty Acid Supplementation on in Vitro Fertilization Success and Miscarriage Rates in Patients of a German Fertility Centre

Abstract

Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids have been positively related with improvement of fertility in both women and men. Primary natural source of omega-3-fatty acids is seafood. As this also can bei the source of toxicants like f.e. lead, mercury and cadmium, reproductive benefits may be counteracted. Therefore, our approach was to supplement pharmaceutical grade omega-3-fatty acids in order to assess potential benefits of omega-3-fatty acids on modulation of IVFsuccess by dietary measures in a well-defined group of patients of a German Fertility Centre. A group of 52 IVF-patients with a history of at least two miscarriages or unsuccessful in vitro fertilization approaches received periconceptual omega-3-fatty acid supplementation for a time period of at least 3 weeks. The "historical" control group, consisting of 1109 patients without omega-3-fatty acid supplementation, was generated out of the Fertility Centre´s patient database. The same inclusion criteria (history of at least two miscarriages or unsuccessful in vitro fertilization approaches) were applied for both groups. Omega-3-fatty acid supplementation lead to significantly enhanced in vitro fertilization success rates as well as to reduction of miscarriage rates compared to patients of the control group. The results encourage to design further agematched, double-blinded prospective studies in order to verify a positive influence of dietary intervention and lifestyle modification on fertility rates.

Correlation Between Immunological Laboratory Status of Omega-3-Fatty-Acid-Supplemented Patients of a German Fertility Centre and Outcome of IVF-Treatment

“…As the miscarriage rate in this study was low, not further interpretation is possible. On the other hand a favourable effect of omega-3-fatty acid supplementation on prevention of miscarriages in IVF-patients can most likely to be extrapolated [3].…”

“…A total of 52 patients with periconceptual omega-3-fatty acid supplementation were screened for a correlation between immunological status and IVF-success. 36 of 52 fertility patients became pregnant, one of these patients suffered from a miscarriage within the further course of pregnancy [3].…”

“…So far, various research approaches have been investigating the influence of life-style modifications, especially dietary supplements, on fertility and miscarriage rates [3][4].…”

Effect of omega-3 supplements or diets on fertility in women: A meta-analysis

“…To calculate the pregnancy rate, data from six trials involving 1789 patients who underwent IVF or ICSI [ [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] ] were used. Furthermore, to broaden the sample to include patients who conceived after receiving any kind of clinical treatment, the data were combined with those from a separate study [ 34 ] that included participants with PCOS who were treated with clomiphene citrate and received either omega-3 or a placebo.…”

“…In the six studies that involved fertility treatment [ [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] ], embryos transfer was performed in the cleavage stage, on day two or three after oocyte retrieval. In two of these six trials [ 28 , 29 ], the women were administered omega-3 supplements, whereas in the other four trials, the women followed a fish diet.…”