Background & aims: Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplementation has been proposed as a potential therapy for cancer-related malnutrition, which affects up to 70% of patients with cancer. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the effects of oral omega-3 PUFA supplementation on muscle maintenance, quality of life, body weight and treatment-related toxicities in patients with cancer. Methods: Randomised controlled trials in patients with cancer aged 18 years were retrieved from 5 electronic databases: MEDLINE (via PubMed), EMBASE, CENTRAL, CINAHL (via EBSCOhost), and Web of Science, from database inception until 31st of December 2019. The quality of included studies was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Trials supplementing >600 mg/d omega-3 PUFA (oral capsules, pure fish oil or oral nutritional supplements) compared with a control intervention for >3 weeks were included. Meta-analyses were performed in RevMan to determine the mean differences (MD) in muscle mass, quality of life and body weight, and odds ratio (OR) for the incidence of treatmentrelated toxicities between omega-3 PUFA and control groups with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and I2 for heterogeneity. Results: We included 31 publications in patients with various types of cancers and degrees of malnutrition. The Cochrane risk of bias tool graded most trials as 'unclear' or 'high' risk of bias. Meta-analyses showed no significant difference between omega-3 PUFA supplements and control intervention on muscle mass, quality of life and body weight. Oral omega-3 PUFA supplements reduced the likelihood of developing chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (OR: 0.20; 95% CI: 0.10-0.40; p < 0.001; I2 1/4 0%). Conclusion: This systematic review and meta-analysis indicates that oral omega-3 PUFA supplementation does not improve muscle maintenance, quality of life or body weight in patients with cancer, but may reduce the incidence of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Well-designed large-scale randomised controlled trials in homogenous patient cohorts are required to confirm these findings. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.
BACKGROUND: Since the placenta also has a sex, fetal sex-specific differences in the occurrence of placenta-mediated complications could exist.OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of fetal sex with multiple maternal pregnancy complications.SEARCH STRATEGY: Six electronic databases Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central, Web-of-Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar were systematically searched to identify eligible studies. Reference lists of the included studies and contact with experts were also used for identification of studies.SELECTION CRITERIA: Observational studies that assessed fetal sex and the presence of maternal pregnancy complications within singleton pregnancies.DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSES: Data were extracted by 2 independent reviewers using a predesigned data collection form.MAIN RESULTS: From 6522 original references, 74 studies were selected, including over 12,5 million women. Male fetal sex was associated with term pre-eclampsia (pooled OR 1.07 [95%CI 1.06 to 1.09]) and gestational diabetes (pooled OR 1.04 [1.02 to 1.07]). All other pregnancy complications (i.e., gestational hypertension, total pre-eclampsia, eclampsia, placental abruption, and post-partum hemorrhage) tended to be associated with male fetal sex, except for preterm pre-eclampsia, which was more associated with female fetal sex. Overall quality of the included studies was good. Between-study heterogeneity was high due to differences in study population and outcome definition.CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis suggests that the occurrence of pregnancy complications differ according to fetal sex with a higher cardiovascular and metabolic load for the mother in the presence of a male fetus.FUNDING: None.
Corrigendum to original article: Elwin R. Savelsbergh, Gjalt T. Prins, Charlotte Rietbergen, Sabine Fechner, Bram E. Vaessen, Jael M. Draijer, Arthur Bakker Effects of innovative science and mathematics teaching on student attitudes and achievement: A meta-analytic study Educational Research Review, Volume 19, November 2016, Pages 158-172 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2016.07.003
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