Low omega-6 vs. low omega-6 plus high omega-3 dietary intervention for Chronic Daily Headache: Protocol for a randomized clinical trial

Table 5 Means of erythrocyte fatty acids over the 12-week intervention, Chronic Daily Headache study, May 2010

	Baseline (n = 20)		Week 4 (n = 20)		Week 8 (n = 20)		Week 12 (n = 18)
Variable	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI	Mean	95% CI
Omega-3 index	4.4	3.9, 5.0	6.2	5.4, 7.1	7.0	5.9, 8.1	7.8	6.5, 9.0
% n-6 in HUFA*	76.3	74.5, 78.0	70.4	67.5, 73.2	67.4	63.7, 71.0	64.7	60.3, 69.0
DHA	4.0	3.5, 4.5	5.2	4.5, 5.8	5.7	4.9, 6.5	6.3	5.4, 7.3
EPA	0.46	0.39, 0.54	1.1	0.8, 1.3	1.3	0.95, 1.6	1.4	1.0, 1.8
AA	14.8	14.5, 15.2	14.4	13.7, 15.1	13.8	13.2, 14.5	13.7	12.9, 14.5
LA	11.5	10.8, 12.1	9.5	8.8, 10.2	9.3	8.6, 10.0	9.5	8.8, 10.3

* %n-6 in HUFA is the percentage of omega-6 fatty acid in total HUFA as calculated by: 100 × (20:3n-6 + 20:4n-6 + 22:4n-6 + 22:5n-6)/(20:5n-3 + 22:5n-3 + 22:6n-3 + 20:3n-6 + 20:4n-6 + 22:4n-6 + 22:5n-6 + 20:3n-9).
Abbreviations: HUFA, highly-unsaturated fatty acid; DHA, Docosahexaenoic acid; EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid; AA, arachidonic acid; LA, linoleic acid.

ISSN: 1745-6215