DN is associated with metabolic diseases, increased biomarkers
of inflammation and oxidative [3]. The current study demonstrated
that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation for 12 weeks among patients
with DN resulted in reductions in serum insulin, HOMA-B
and an increase in QUICKI score compared with the placebo. In
agreement with our study, Hutchins et al. [23] demonstrated that
daily flaxseed oil consumption among overweight or obese individuals
with pre-diabetes for 12 weeks decreased insulin concentrations
and improved insulin sensitivity. In addition, our
previous study demonstrated that taking 1000 mg omega-3 fatty
acid supplements among GDM women for 6 weeks led to a significant
decrease in serum insulin concentrations compared with
the placebo [7]. However, some researchers did not observe such
favorable effects of omega-3 fatty acid administration on glycaemic
status. For example, the administration of high dose flaxseed oil
had no effect on glycaemic status in type 2 diabetic patients [24].
However, the exact mechanism by which omega-3 fatty acid supplements
may affect insulin resistance is unknown, improved
markers of insulin resistance by omega-3 fatty acid intake may be
mediated by reduced activation of the nuclear factor kappa-lightchain-enhancer
of activated B cells (NF-kB) transcription factor
[25].