Studies reporting blood levels of the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), were systematically identified in order to create a global map identifying countries and regions with different blood levels. Included studies were those of healthy adults, published in 1980 or later. A total of 298 studies met all inclusion criteria. Studies reported fatty acids in various blood fractions including plasma total lipids (33%), plasma phospholipid (32%), erythrocytes (32%) and whole blood (3.0%). Fatty acid data from each blood fraction were converted to relative weight percentages (wt.%) and then assigned to one of four discrete ranges (high, moderate, low, very low) corresponding to wt.% EPA + DHA in erythrocyte equivalents. Regions with high EPA + DHA blood levels (> 8%) included the Sea of Japan, Scandinavia, and areas with indigenous populations or populations not fully adapted to Westernized food habits. Very low blood levels (≤ 4%) were observed in North America, Central and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa. The present review reveals considerable variability in blood levels of EPA + DHA and the very low to low range of blood EPA + DHA for most of the world may increase global risk for chronic disease.

系统地鉴定了报告omega-3多不饱和脂肪酸，二十碳五烯酸（EPA）和二十二碳六烯酸（DHA）血液水平的研究，以便创建一个全球地图，确定具有不同血液水平的国家和地区。纳入的研究对象是1980年或更晚发表的健康成人研究。共有298项研究符合所有纳入标准。研究报告了各种血液成分中的脂肪酸，包括血浆总脂质（33％），血浆磷脂（32％），红细胞（32％）和全血（3.0％）。将来自每个血液级分的脂肪酸数据转换为相对重量百分比（wt。％），然后分配给四个离散范围之一（高，中，低，非常低），分别对应于红细胞当量中的EPA + DHA重量％。EPA + DHA血液水平高的地区（> 8％）包括日本海，斯堪的纳维亚半岛以及土著人口或未完全适应西方饮食习惯的人口的地区。在北美，中南美洲，欧洲，中东，东南亚和非洲，观察到极低的血液水平（≤4％）。本综述显示，EPA + DHA的血液水平存在很大差异，世界上大多数地方血液中EPA + DHA的范围很低至很低，可能会增加全球患慢性病的风险。