ResearchResearch and Professional BriefAlgal-Oil Capsules and Cooked Salmon: Nutritionally Equivalent Sources of Docosahexaenoic Acid
Section snippets
Study Design
This study was a randomized, open-label, parallel-group design to compare plasma phospholipid and erythrocyte DHA in subjects supplemented with either encapsulated algal oil or cooked salmon. Because of obvious differences in the study materials, the study was not blinded. Subjects were interviewed by a study coordinator to obtain a self-reported date of birth, sex, race, height, weight, medical history, pregnancy status, smoking history, dietary supplement use, alcohol consumption, exercise,
Baseline Demographics and Compliance
There were no differences in mean age (35.7±7.3 and 35.5±6.1 years), weight (74.6±14.0 and 81.3±17.8 kg), height (170.9±12.0 and 173.6±7.4 cm), body mass index (calculated as kg/m2; 25.4±3.3 and 26.9±4.6), race (88% and 100% white), or sex (56% and 54% female) between algal-oil and fish groups, respectively. There were also no differences in the intakes of DHA or EPA in the baseline diet as determined by food frequency questionnaire. Total long-chain n-3 fatty acid intakes (DHA+EPA) were
Discussion
In contrast to our findings in this study, Visioli and colleagues (30) reported that plasma EPA and DHA concentrations after salmon intake were considerably higher than after administration of fish-oil capsules containing EPA and DHA ethyl esters. Although net increments of EPA and DHA in plasma lipids were linearly and significantly correlated with dose after capsule administration, it appeared that the DHA present in capsules as an ethyl ester fish-oil extract was not bioequivalent with DHA
Conclusion
Algal-oil capsules and cooked salmon represent nutritionally equivalent sources of DHA. That is, blood levels of this nutrient increased by equivalent amounts resulting in comparable blood levels of DHA after consuming either source. Algal-oil capsules appear to be a safe and convenient source of DHA and represent a suitable alternative to dietary fish for DHA delivery.
L. M. Arterburn is senior director, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Alba Therapeutics, Baltimore, MD; at the time of the study, she was director, Clinical Research, Martek Biosciences Corporation, Columbia, MD.
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2020, NutritionCitation Excerpt :A study in healthy children 4 to 12 y of age in the United States reported an increase in phospholipid DHA contents by 40% to 50% and 65% to 70% after 6 wk supplementation of 180 mL/d juice fortified with 50 and 100 mg/d microencapsulated-algal DHA, respectively [60]. Algal oil provide an equivalent amount of DHA to the bloodstream as cooked salmon, whereas bioavailability of 600 mg/d DHA from salmon or algal oil are equivalent for incorporation into plasma erythrocytes and phospholipids [159]. In this study, we reviewed evidence that humans are able to synthesize ω-3 LCPUFAs from ALA, albeit limited, especially to DHA.
L. M. Arterburn is senior director, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Alba Therapeutics, Baltimore, MD; at the time of the study, she was director, Clinical Research, Martek Biosciences Corporation, Columbia, MD.
H. A. Oken is clinical professor of medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore.
J. A. Hamersley is clinical study coordinator, Charter Medical Group, University of Maryland, Baltimore.
E. Bailey Hall is laboratory manager, Clinical Research, C. N. Kuratko is principal scientist, medical affairs, and J. P. Hoffman is director of medical services, Martek Biosciences Corporation, Columbia, MD.