Omega‐3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Supplementation for Reducing Muscle Soreness after Eccentric Exercise: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract

Purpose. This systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to determine the effectiveness of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n‐3 PUFA) supplement on muscle soreness after eccentric exercise. Methods. PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and ISI Web of Science were searched to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed the efficacy of n‐3 PUFA on muscle soreness after eccentric exercise. Mean difference (MD) and the associated 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated by RevMan 5.3 to indicate delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) that measured two days after eccentric trainings. Subgroup analyses according to duration and daily dosage of n‐3 PUFA supplements before eccentric exercises were performed to determine whether these factors will influence the overall effect size. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to evaluate the certainty of evidence. The protocol of this systematic review and meta-analysis was registered at PROSPERO (CRD42018085869). Results. 12 RCTs containing 145 subjects and 156 controls were included in this study. Meta-analysis revealed a significantly decreased DOMS (MD -0.93; 95% CI -1.44, -0.42; P=0.0004) in n‐3 PUFA supplement groups, while no significant differences in isometric muscle strength and range of motion (ROM) were detected. However, the pooled effect size for DOMS was lower than the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) of 1.4 on the 10-unit VAS, suggesting that the effect size of less muscle soreness with n‐3 PUFA supplements did not appear to be clinically relevant. Conclusion. There is low-quality evidence that n‐3 PUFA supplementation does not result in a clinically important reduction of muscle soreness after eccentric exercise. Isometric muscle soreness and range of motion were not improved by n‐3 PUFA supplementation either (low-quality evidence). To further elucidate the overall role of n‐3 PUFA on muscle damage in this area, large-scale RCTs are still needed.

The effect of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on exercise-induced muscle damage

“…Our study demonstrated a significant difference in perceived muscle soreness between groups at 24 h post-EIMD, suggesting N-3 may have experienced less pain compared to PLA group at this point. Previous studies [17,18,47] also found significant differences in DOMS between groups following EIMD, with the fish oil group having reduced muscle soreness. On the contrary, Jakeman et al [17] an acute dose of n-3 PUFA immediately after a muscle-damaging exercise, demonstrated similar muscle soreness between groups.…”

“…Tarbinian et al [ 15 ], Jouris et al [ 16 ] and Jakeman et al [ 17 ] have shown a pain reduction following EIMD with n-3 supplementation. A recent meta-analysis [ 18 ] also concluded that n-3 supplementation could alleviate DOMS after eccentric exercise. Additionally, Atashak et al [ 19 ] reported substantial reduction in CK and in C-reactive protein after lower body resistance exercise following 1 week of 540 mg EPA and 360 mg DHA.…”

Exploratory metabolomic analysis based on UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS to study hypoxia-reoxygenation energy metabolic alterations in HK-2 cells

“…Intracellular levels of oleic acid are elevated ( Figure 7(B) ), and its accumulation in the renal cortex has been reported to activate peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) leading to lipid stress and induction of renal injury [ 24 , 25 ]. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) undergo auto-oxidation to form oxidized lipids, which a part of them have anti-inflammatory properties [ 26 , 27 ], such as alpha-linolenic acid and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) derivative ( Figure 7(C,D) ), were shown to have reduced levels. It has been shown that exogenous DHA supplementation significantly altered the oxylipin levels and improved tubular function after ischemia-induced acute kidney injury [ 28 ].…”

Dietary Habits and Musculoskeletal Pain in Statin and Red Yeast Rice Users: A Pilot Study

“…In this context, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 PUFA) supplementation has been suggested for preventing or treating statin myopathy [47] and for inflammation-mediated pain in sarcopenic elderlies [48]. Although a meta-analysis found that supplementation with omega-3 PUFA did not result in a clinically relevant reduction of muscle soreness after eccentric exercise [49], omega-3 PUFA are among the antinociceptive and analgesic natural compounds [50]. The analgesic effect can mask the reported pain due to the statin-induced myopathy.…”