Meta-analysis shows Omega-3 intake tied to higher fertility in women

Published in ‘Heliyon’ journal, a novel study shed light on the possible effects of omega-3 intake on fertilization and pregnancy in females.

A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted by Shivtia Trop-Steinberg and co-workers to evaluate the impact of higher omega-3 dietary intake on fertilization rates and the likelihood of women becoming pregnant. Renowned databases used for searching articles published until April 2021 were PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL/EBSCO, Medline Complete, Google Scholar and Clinical Trials with only language restricted to the article search with the relevant keywords. The retrospective studies with postmenopausal women and studies with unequally matched study and control groups were excluded.  The findings from the included studies were synthesized using meta-analysis, calculating odds ratios for clinical pregnancies and fertilization rates across all study groups.

Six trials with 1789 women who received fertility treatment, four trials with 2607 women who conceived naturally and three trials with 1725 oocytes for fertility rates were included in this analysis.  The combined odds ratios (ORs) for omega-3's impact on pregnancies were 1.74 for women undergoing fertility treatment, 1.36 for those conceiving naturally, and 2.14 for fertilization rates. Results were statistically significant (p ≤ 0.01) but were marked by considerable heterogeneity I2 > 68%. highlighting the need for further investigation for a clear correlation.