Exploring Sustainable Alternatives to Marine Oils With Echium and Ahiflower Oils

December 4, 2025 updated by: Inar Castro Erger, University of Sao Paulo

Exploring Sustainable Alternatives to Marine Oils: A Clinical Trial on the Efficacy of Echium and Ahiflower Oils for Omega-3 Supplementation.

This randomized, single-blind, crossover clinical trial aims to evaluate Echium oil and Ahiflower® oil as sustainable, plant-based alternatives to marine oils for omega-3 supplementation. Although fish oil is the primary dietary source of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), its use as a dietary supplementation presents several drawbacks, including high cost, potential contamination, limited global supply, and sustainability concerns. Echium and Ahiflower oils are naturally rich in stearidonic acid (SDA), a metabolic intermediate that bypasses the rate-limiting Δ6-desaturase step in the omega-3 pathway, potentially enhancing the conversion to EPA.

Fifteen participants will undergo three 8-week intervention phases-Echium oil (15 g/day), Ahiflower oil (15 g/day), or EPA capsules (2.34 g/day)-separated by four-week washout periods. Blood samples will be collected before and after each phase to measure fatty acid profiles in plasma, plasma fractions, and erythrocytes using GC-MS. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters will also be assessed. The study seeks to determine whether SDA-rich plant oils can effectively increase EPA levels in humans and potentially reduce the reliance on marine oils for cardiovascular health benefits.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

15

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Brazil
    • São Paulo
      • São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, 05508-000
        • Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo (USP)

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Inclusion criteria will include individuals of both sexes, aged 18 to 30 years, without contraindications for using fish oil or vegetable oil supplements. Women must not be pregnant or breastfeeding.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • will include vegetarianism or veganism; the use of triglyceride-lowering medications or dietary supplements; consumption of fish oil or other n-3 or n-6 PUFA supplements/drugs within one month before the trial; consumption of fatty fish (salmon, herring, mackerel, albacore tuna, or sardines) more than twice a month in the month before the trial; and unwillingness to avoid PUFA supplements and seafood throughout the study period. Additional exclusions will include severe heart failure, active severe liver disease, planned coronary intervention or surgery, history of acute or chronic pancreatitis, known hypersensitivity to fish, shellfish, or capsule ingredients, and autoimmune diseases requiring immunosuppressive therapy or current systemic corticosteroid use. Other exclusion criteria will encompass active neoplasms requiring surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation within the past 12 months (patients who underwent curative surgery without further treatment in the last 12 months may be eligible); inflammatory bowel disease or chronic diarrhea; significant non-transient hematological abnormalities; renal dysfunction; severe liver disease; inability to provide informed consent; participation in another clinical trial involving an investigational agent within the past 90 days; malabsorption syndrome; recent drug or alcohol abuse; atrial fibrillation; or bleeding disorders. Adherence to the prescribed dosage will be assessed by tracking the residual oil sachets and capsules returned by participants. If fewer than 80% of the doses over the full study period are consumed, participants will be classified as non-compliant, and their data will be excluded from efficacy analyses.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Crossover Intervention Sequence 1
All participants will receive all three interventions (Echium oil, Ahiflower® oil, and EPA capsules) in a randomized crossover sequence. Each intervention period lasts 8 weeks, followed by a 4-week washout period. Participants rotate through all treatments, ensuring within-subject comparison. In this sequence, participants begin with Echium oil, transition to EPA capsules, and complete the cycle with Ahiflower oil.
Dietary supplement: Echium oil
Participants consume 15 g/day of Echium oil, incorporated into meals, during one 8-week phase.
Other Names:
  • seed oil from Echium plantagineum
Dietary supplement: Ahiflower oil
Participants consume 15 g/day of Ahiflower® oil, incorporated into meals, during one 8-week phase.
Other Names:
  • Buglossoides arvensis
  • Lithospermum arvense
  • corn gromwell
Dietary supplement: EPA capsules
Participants consume three EPA capsules daily (totaling 2.34 g/day), taken with meals, during one 8-week phase.
Other Names:
  • Omega-3
  • IPE
Experimental: Crossover Intervention Sequence 2
All participants will receive all three interventions (Echium oil, Ahiflower® oil, and EPA capsules) in a randomized crossover sequence. Each intervention period lasts 8 weeks, followed by a 4-week washout period. Participants rotate through all treatments, ensuring within-subject comparison. In this sequence, participants begin with Ahiflower oil, transition to Echium oil, and complete the cycle with EPA capsules.
Dietary supplement: Echium oil
Participants consume 15 g/day of Echium oil, incorporated into meals, during one 8-week phase.
Other Names:
  • seed oil from Echium plantagineum
Dietary supplement: Ahiflower oil
Participants consume 15 g/day of Ahiflower® oil, incorporated into meals, during one 8-week phase.
Other Names:
  • Buglossoides arvensis
  • Lithospermum arvense
  • corn gromwell
Dietary supplement: EPA capsules
Participants consume three EPA capsules daily (totaling 2.34 g/day), taken with meals, during one 8-week phase.
Other Names:
  • Omega-3
  • IPE
Experimental: Crossover Intervention Sequence 3
All participants will receive all three interventions (Echium oil, Ahiflower® oil, and EPA capsules) in a randomized crossover sequence. Each intervention period lasts 8 weeks, followed by a 4-week washout period. Participants rotate through all treatments, ensuring within-subject comparison. In this sequence, participants begin with EPA capsules, transition to Ahiflower oil, and complete the cycle with Echium oil.
Dietary supplement: Echium oil
Participants consume 15 g/day of Echium oil, incorporated into meals, during one 8-week phase.
Other Names:
  • seed oil from Echium plantagineum
Dietary supplement: Ahiflower oil
Participants consume 15 g/day of Ahiflower® oil, incorporated into meals, during one 8-week phase.
Other Names:
  • Buglossoides arvensis
  • Lithospermum arvense
  • corn gromwell
Dietary supplement: EPA capsules
Participants consume three EPA capsules daily (totaling 2.34 g/day), taken with meals, during one 8-week phase.
Other Names:
  • Omega-3
  • IPE

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in EPA and DHA concentrations in blood fractions
Time Frame: Baseline and after each 8-week intervention phase
EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) concentrations will be determined from blood fractions (plasma, plasma subfractions, and erythrocytes). Lipids will be extracted and derivatized to obtain fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), which will then be analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Measurements will be performed at baseline and after each 8-week intervention phase (Echium oil, Ahiflower® oil, and EPA capsules) to assess the efficiency of omega-3 conversion and incorporation under each supplementation condition
Baseline and after each 8-week intervention phase

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Sao Paulo

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

May 26, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 5, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 4, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 4, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

December 17, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 17, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 4, 2025

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 85126524.0.0000.0067

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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