‘Bringing a fresh face to the supplement world’: Epax explores skin health benefits of North Atlantic fish oil

The majority of the fish oil used for human nutrition is derived from anchovies and sardines because of the naturally high concentrations of EPA and DHA omega-3s. These are long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, or LC-PUFAs. On the other hand, North Atlantic fish like herring and mackerel have lower EPA and DHA concentrations but high levels of long-chain monounsaturated fatty acids (LC-MUFAs).

Cetoleic acid is the most abundant LC-MUFA, representing between 10% to 22% of the overall LC-MUFA content, followed by gadoleic acid and gondoic acid, depending on the type of fish.

Two new trials from Epax using a cetoleic-rich oil derived from North Atlantic fish explored the potential of this new ingredient to boost the Omega-3 Index and to impact skin quality parameters.

Data published in Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids​ indicated that 2 g per day of the cetoleic-rich oil lead to similar increases in the Omega-3 Index as the same dose of omega-3 oil from anchovy, despite containing 33% less EPA and DHA than the anchovy-derived oil.

Additional results from the skin health study, which employed a 4 g per day dose, showed that people consuming the cetoleic-rich oil had significantly less skin redness, which is connected to a lower inflammatory response to the facial cleansing process.

“The result of this study can increase the interest in investigating health benefits of North Atlantic fish species and their oils as an alternative to the more commonly utilised South American-Pacific fish,” wrote the researchers.

LC-MUFAs to complement the LC-PUFAs category​

Derek Tobin, business development and clinical research manager at Epax Norway and lead author on the new paper, told NutraIngredients that the skin health study was important for Epax.

“The study was based on the known biology of omegas-9 and -11 in skin subcutaneous fat and its anti-inflammatory effects,” he said. “The study was small but well controlled. By this we mean that the study was well managed to control variables, for example the clinical site recruited participants fast to avoid seasonal variations and were careful with protocols to allow the participants to acclimatise prior to measurements. The use of the VISIA system provided a quantitative means of measuring skin health. All this increases the credibility of the study.”

Tobin added that the main point of this study was to provide insights into the benefits of long chain monounsaturated fatty acids, which Epax believes will complement the long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids category.

“The positive outcome has encouraged us to support further studies in this area,” he said, adding that a study of skin health in eczema is now underway using Epax oils. “This study also includes a skin lipodomic analysis which is a powerful tool for measuring effects in the skin that we may not know about and couple these to health outcomes.

“We are also in the advanced stages of designing our own Epax study in Omega 3-9-11 in skin health. This will be a product-specific study bringing together the benefits of omega-3 and the mono-unsaturated, omegas 9 and 11 which in other models has previously been shown to have positive beneficial effect when given together,” Tobin told us.

“Based on these scientific efforts, we have launched a new concentrate, EPAX Omega 3-9-11, which contains both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Bringing these fatty acids together provides comprehensive skin health and a fresh face to the supplement world.”

Study details​

Scientists from Epax Norway AS and Møreforsking AS performed two intervention trials, both of which recruited participants from the Ålesund region on the west coast of Norway. This is a region where people typically eat a lot of fish, and as a result have baseline Omega-3 Index values of approximately 6%, compared to less than 4% observed in countries like the U.S. and UK.

For the first study, called CetoIndex, 55 people were randomly assigned to receive 2 g per day of the cetoleic-rich oil (EPAX Cetoleic 10), 2 g per day of an anchovy “18/12″ fish oil, or placebo (corn oil) for two months. The results showed that the Omega-3 Index increased in the anchovy oil group by 1.67%, while a 1.54% increase was recorded in the cetoleic-rich oil (CRO) group. No significant increase was observed in the placebo group.

The second study, called Optihud, included 28 healthy women randomly assigned to the CRO group (4 g per day of EPAX Cetoleic 10) or placebo (corn oil) for three months. During this time, the women underwent professional face cleaning and their skin was analysed using the VISIA imaging system.

Results from this trial showed that, again, the CRO led to a significant increase in the Omega-3 Index (from 6.85% at the start to 8.93% after three months). No increases were observed in the placebo group.

“Both the CetoIndex and Optihud study results suggest that CRO supplementation leads to an unexpected high omega-3 index, largely due to increases in EPA,” the researchers wrote. “Although the mechanism of action for this has not been explained, an in vitro study of hepatic cells incubated with radiolabelled ALA shows that addition of cetoleic acid to culture medium results in increased conversion of ALA to EPA and modestly to DHA.

“Thus, it can be speculated that the omega-3 index data seen in the current study with the CRO is partially due to an increase in ALA to EPA conversion.”

Skin analysis showed that the CRO group had less redness, a marker of inflammation, compared to the placebo group.

“In conclusion, a fish oil rich in LCMUFA, represented by EPAX Cetoleic 10, increased the O3I and showed potentially beneficial effects in skin erythema," the researchers reported. "This suggests the oil has an anti-inflammatory effect in skin, a finding consistent with results in other organ systems. An anti-inflammatory effect may result from the actions of LMCUFA or from omega-3 lipids present in the oil, or from the increased conversion of ALA to EPA/DHA.” 

Source: Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids​
Volume 201, 102616, doi: 10.1016/j.plefa.2024.102616​
“The effect of fish oil rich in cetoleic acid on the omega-3 index and skin quality”
Authors; D. Tobin et al.