Association of omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids with incident chronic kidney disease: pooled analysis of 19 cohorts

OBJECTIVETo assess the prospective associations of circulating levels of omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) biomarkers (including plant derived a linolenic acid and seafood derived eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid) with incident chronic kidney disease (CKD).DESIGNPooled analysis.DATA SOURCESA consortium of 19 studies from 12 countries identified up to May 2020.STUDY SELECTIONProspective studies with measured n-3 PUFA biomarker data and incident CKD based on estimated glomerular filtration rate.DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESISEach participating cohort conducted de novo analysis with prespecified and consistent exposures, outcomes, covariates, and models. The results were pooled across cohorts using inverse variance weighted meta-analysis.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURESPrimary outcome of incident CKD was defined as new onset estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/ min/1.73 m(2). In a sensitivity analysis, incident CKD was defined as new onset estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and <75% of baseline rate.RESULTS25 570 participants were included in the primary outcome analysis and 4944 (19.3%) developed incident CKD during follow-up (weighted median 11.3 years). In multivariable adjusted models, higher levels of total seafood n-3 PUFAs were associated with a lower incident CKD risk (relative risk per interquintile range 0.92, 95% confidence interval 0.86 to 0.98; P=0.009, I-2=9.9%). In categorical analyses, participants with total seafood n-3 PUFA level in the highest fifth had 13% lower risk of incident CKD compared with those in the lowest fifth (0.87, 0.80 to 0.96; P=0.005, I-2=0.0%). Plant derived a linolenic acid levels were not associated with incident CKD (1.00, 0.94 to 1.06; P=0.94, I-2=5.8%). Similar results were obtained in the sensitivity analysis. The association appeared consistent across subgroups by age (=60 v <60 years), estimated glomerular filtration rate (60-89 v =90 mL/min/1.73 m(2)), hypertension, diabetes, and coronary heart disease at baseline.CONCLUSIONSHigher seafood derived n-3 PUFA levels were associated with lower risk of incident CKD, although this association was not found for plant derived n-3 PUFAs. These results support a favourable role for seafood derived n-3 PUFAs in preventing CKD.

Automated summary

This study conducted a pooled analysis of 19 studies and found that higher levels of seafood-derived omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) were associated with a lower risk of incident chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, no association was found for plant-derived n-3 PUFAs. These results highlight the beneficial role of seafood-derived n-3 PUFAs in preventing CKD.