Objective: This meta-analysis was to assess the effect of fish oil supplementation on inflammation markers in adult patients receiving hemodialysis.Methods: CENTRAL, EMBASE, MEDLINE databases were searched from inception to 10 April 2020. Two authors independently searched, selected, and screened the literature. The pooled results are represented by WMD or SMD with 95% confidence intervals. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were used to explore sources of heterogeneity, and sensitivity analysis was used to assess the robustness of the pooled results. Funnel plots were used to assess publication bias.Results: Eleven RCT (randomized control trials) studies were included. The pooled results showed that fish oil supplementation caused a significant reduction of the CRP(C-reactive protein) level (random model: WMD, À3.36, 95%CI: À5.46 to À1.26, P = .002), especially in patients with baseline CRP ≥ 5 mg/L (random model: WMD, À4.43, 95%CI: À6.10 to À2.76, P = .00001, I 2 = 41%). Meta-regression analyses showed that CRP baseline level (CRP < 5 mg/L) was the main source of heterogeneity (P = .036). Sensitive analyses revealed that the result was hardly changed. Fish oil supplementation might not reduce the level of IL-6 (random model: WMD, À2.26, 95%CI: À19.61 to 15.09, P = .80) in four studies or the level of TNF-α (random model: SMD, À2.51, 95%CI: À6.08 to 1.06, P = .17) in three studies.Conclusions: Fish oil supplementation could reduce the level of CRP in hemodialysis patients, especially in patients with CRP ≥ 5 mg/L, but had no effects on IL-6 and TNF-α.
| INTRODUCTIONESRD (end stage renal disease) is a common disease with high incidence. In the United States, there were 124,500 cases of ESRD in 2017, with an incidence of 370.2 per million every year. For this disease, 86.9% of new cases preferred hemodialysis, 1 the most common renal replacement therapy (RRT). Chronic inflammation is a common complication in MHD (maitenance hemodialysis) patients, which can lead to multiple complications, such as malnutrition, erythropoietin resistance, anemia, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular events, as well as susceptibility to infection. The common inflammatory markers include CRP, IL-6, and TNF-α. Inflammatory markers are significantly associated with cardiovascular events in the general population and MHD patients. [2][3][4][5] The anti-inflammatory therapy can lower the levels of inflammatory markers and reduce cardiovascular events.The ω-3 fatty acids include α-linolenic acid (ALA, C18:3 n-3), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5 n-3), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6 n-3). ALA is short-chain unsaturated fatty acid derived from plants such as linseed, soy, flaxseed, and walnut, which is rarely converted into long-chain unsaturated fatty acid in the body. EPA and DHA are long-chain unsaturated fatty acids derived from fish or fish oil. Fish oil, antiarrhythmic, antithrombotic, and anti-arteriosclerosis, is beneficial in preventing cardiovascular disease, 6 improving