Effect of Alpha Linolenic Acid Supplementation on Serum Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA): Results from the Alpha Omega Trial

Ingeborg A Brouwer, Johanna M Geleijnse, Veronique M Klaasen, Liesbeth A Smit, Erik J Giltay, Janette de Goede, Annemieke C Heijboer, Daan Kromhout and Martijn B Katan

PLOS ONE, 2013, vol. 8, issue 12, 1-6

Abstract: Background: Alpha linolenic acid (ALA) is the major omega-3 fatty acid in the diet. Evidence on health effects of ALA is not conclusive, but some observational studies found an increased risk of prostate cancer with higher intake of ALA. We examined the effect of ALA supplementation on serum concentrations of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a biomarker for prostate cancer. Methods: The Alpha Omega Trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00127452) was a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of ALA and the fish fatty acids eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA) on the recurrence of cardiovascular disease, using a 2×2 factorial design. Blood was collected at the start and the end of the intervention period. The present analysis included 1622 patients with a history of a myocardial infarction, aged 60–80 years with an initial PSA concentration 4 ng/mL). Findings: Mean serum PSA increased by 0.42 ng/mL on placebo (n = 815) and by 0.52 ng/mL on ALA (n = 807), a difference of 0.10 (95% confidence interval: −0.02 to 0.22) ng/mL (P = 0·12). The odds ratio for PSA rising above 4 ng/mL on ALA versus placebo was 1.15 (95% CI: 0.84–1.58). Interpretation: An additional amount of 2 g of ALA per day increased PSA by 0.10 ng/mL, but the confidence interval ranged from −0.02 to 0.22 ng/mL and included no effect. Therefore, more studies are needed to establish whether or not ALA intake has a clinically significant effect on PSA or prostate cancer. Trial registration information: ClinicalTrials.gov; Identifier: NCT00127452. URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00127452.

Date: 2013
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0081519 (text/html)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id= ... 81519&type=printable (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0081519

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081519

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in PLOS ONE from Public Library of Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by plosone ().