Higher levels of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) from seafood are associated with protection from incident chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a pooled analysis of 19 studies. However, plant-derived n-3 PUFAs did not yield this association. “These results support a favourable role for seafood derived n-3 PUFAs in preventing CKD,” the authors conclude.
The analysis included prospective studies from 12 countries with measured n-3 PUFA biomarker data and incident CKD based on estimated glomerular filtration rates. With incident CKD defined as new-onset estimated glomerular filtration rates of less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 and less than 75% of baseline rate, the results showed: “25,570 participants were included in the primary outcome analysis and 4,944 (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, I2 = 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, I2 = 0.0%). Plant derived α linolenic acid levels were not associated with incident CKD (1.00, 0.94 to 1.06; P = 0.94, I2 = 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 m2), hypertension, diabetes, and coronary heart disease at baseline.”