A Phase 2 interventional study of Fish Oil and Fish Oil in Type 2 Diabetes, Prediabetes (Insulin Resistance, Impaired Glucose Tolerance) and Prediabetes / Type 2 Diabetes, sponsored by May Faraj, PDt, PhD. Recruiting at 1 site in Canada. Open to participants aged 40 Years to 70 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-08.
Sponsored by May Faraj, PDt, PhD · Phase 2, Interventional, and Prevention
The purpose of this clinical trial is to find out whether one type of fish oil works better than another at improving metabolic health in people who are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Some metabolic problems-such as difficulty controlling blood sugar, unhealthy particles that transport cholesterol in the blood, and poor fat tissue function-can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. This study aims to determine whether different types of fish oil can:
To answer these questions, researchers will compare the effects of two types of fish oil: EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). These will be compared with corn oil, which is used as a placebo and does not contain EPA or DHA.
When included in this study, participants will:
A) Take softgel capsules containing EPA, DHA, or placebo (corn oil) every day for 12 weeks, B) Keep a daily log to record when they take their study softgels, and C) Visit the research unit six times, including one and a half days before and after the intervention, to complete specialized metabolic tests that are mostly only available in research settings.
Background and Rationale:
According to the International Diabetes Federation, about 590 million adults worldwide-or 1 in 9 adults-were living with diabetes in 2025, most of whom had type 2 diabetes (T2D). An additional 230 million adults (about 4 in 10) are unaware that they have diabetes and therefore remain undiagnosed. Diabetes substantially increases the risk of illness and death and has an impact comparable to aging approximately 15 years, making it a leading cause of disability and mortality worldwide.
Type 2 diabetes develops gradually as multiple risk factors accumulate over time, including unhealthy lifestyle habits and aging. These factors reduce the body's ability to produce insulin and/or respond effectively to insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. As a result, blood sugar levels progressively rise and may eventually lead to a diagnosis of T2D.
Importantly, type 2 diabetes is preventable.
In people with T2D, elevated blood levels of apolipoprotein B (apoB) increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (apoB is a measure of the number of particles that carry "bad" cholesterol known as low density lipoproteins (LDL)). Traditionally, high apoB levels were considered a consequence of T2D. However, research from the principal investigator's laboratory has shown that high apoB levels may also contribute to the development of T2D.
This appears to occur because LDL particles can promote inflammation and impair the normal function of fat tissue. Poorly functioning fat tissue is associated with multiple metabolic abnormalities that increase the risk of both T2D and cardiovascular disease. Large population based studies confirmed that elevated blood apoB levels can predict the development of T2D many years before diagnosis.
Recent findings from the research team also indicate that 12 week supplementation with marine derived omega 3 fatty acids, EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), can improve several risk factors for T2D, particularly in individuals with higher blood apoB levels. However, these data suggest that EPA and DHA may not provide identical benefits in reducing these risk factors.
Study Objective:
The overall aim of this study is to compare the effects of EPA versus DHA on major risk factors for T2D in adults with overweight or obesity and elevated blood apoB levels.
Study Design and Procedures:
After eligibility is confirmed, participants will visit the research institute (IRCM) for two baseline visits scheduled one week apart. During these visits, investigators will used specialized metabolic testing to:
Participants will then be randomly assigned to follow one of three interventions for 12 weeks: EPA, DHA or corn oil (placebo). At the end of the 12 week intervention, participants will return to the research institute to undergo the same assessments performed at baseline.
Data Analysis:
At the conclusion of the study, results from participants in each intervention group (EPA, DHA, and placebo) will be averaged and compared. This will allow researchers to determine the effects of EPA and DHA on key risk factors for T2D and to evaluate whether one omega 3 fatty acid is more effective than the other.
10,371 studies on the registry are indexed under Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; 1,406 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 84 is close to the median of 80 across 8,350 interventional studies indexed under Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2.
Browse Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 studies →May Faraj, PDt, PhD is the lead sponsor of 2 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Males and females:
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Periods have stopped for good: usually no period for 12 months in a row without another medical reason, sometimes confirmed by a blood test (FSH).
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
A “mini-stroke”: temporary stroke-like symptoms caused by reduced blood flow to part of the brain, spinal cord or eye, without signs of a new stroke on a scan.
Stroke symptoms need emergency care at once, even if they go away.
A blood test of average blood sugar over the past two to three months, given as a percentage or in mmol/mol. 6.5% (48 mmol/mol) or more is the usual threshold for diabetes, normally confirmed by a second test.
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.
Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.
Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.
Postmenopausal
Periods have stopped for good: usually no period for 12 months in a row without another medical reason, sometimes confirmed by a blood test (FSH).
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
BMI (body mass index)
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
TIA (transient ischaemic attack)
A “mini-stroke”: temporary stroke-like symptoms caused by reduced blood flow to part of the brain, spinal cord or eye, without signs of a new stroke on a scan.
Stroke symptoms need emergency care at once, even if they go away.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
HbA1c
A blood test of average blood sugar over the past two to three months, given as a percentage or in mmol/mol. 6.5% (48 mmol/mol) or more is the usual threshold for diabetes, normally confirmed by a second test.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ALT and AST (liver enzymes)
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hemoglobin (Hb)
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Autoimmune disease
A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.
Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Corticosteroids (steroids)
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Biopsy and archival tissue
A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.
Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
4 g EPA per day
Dietary Supplement: Fish Oil
4 g DHA per day
Dietary Supplement: Fish Oil
0 g EPA and DHA per day
Dietary Supplement: Corn oil control
Four softgels of Carlson Elite EPA Gems taken orally per day (NPN 80079735, 1 g EPA/softgel)
Four softgels of Carlson Elite DHA Gems taken orally per day (NPN 80079736, 1 g DHA/softgel)
Four softgels of Carlson placebo taken orally per day (food-grade corn oil, 0 g EPA and DHA per softgel)
Change from baseline to 12 weeks in the disposition index
Disposition index calculated as first phase glucose-induced insulin secretion multiplied by insulin sensitivity measured during the Botnia clamp \[(ng C-peptide/mL)\*(mg dextrose/kg/min)/(µU insulin/mL)\]
Time frame: 12-weeks
Change from baseline to 12 weeks in glucose-induced insulin secretion
Glucose-induced insulin secretion measured by the Botnia clamp (ng C-peptide/mL)
Time frame: 12 weeks
Change from baseline to 12 weeks in insulin sensitivity
Insulin sensitivity measured by the Botnia clamp (mg dextrose/kg/min)/(uU insulin/mL)
Time frame: 12 weeks
Change from baseline to 12 weeks in the oral disposition index
Oral disposition index calculated as insulin secretion index (0-30 min) multiplied by insulin sensitivity index measured during an oral glucose tolerance test (arbitrary unit)
Time frame: 12 week
Change from baseline to 12 weeks in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) size
LDL size measured by Quantimetrix Lipoprint System (Å)
Time frame: 12 weeks
Change from baseline to 12 weeks in LDL-induced white adipose tissue (WAT) inflammation
LDL-induced WAT inflammation measured as WAT gene expression of a panel of pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators/markers (e.g. NLRP3, IL1B, MCP1, IL10, TREMs) by RT-qPCR. This will be measured after the incubation of participant WAT biopsies without or with their own LDL ex vivo.
Time frame: 12 weeks
Change from baseline to 12 weeks in LDL-induced WAT inflammation
LDL-induced WAT inflammation measured as WAT secretion of a panel of pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators/markers (e.g. IL-1β, MCP1, IL10) by multiplex. This will be measured after the incubation of participant WAT biopsies without or with their own LDL ex vivo.
Time frame: 12 weeks
Plan to share: No — Frozen plasma and white adipose tissue samples (when available in sufficient quantity) may be shared with other investigators for analysis. However, all statistical analyses incorporating the complete participant data will be conducted exclusively by the IRCM research team, in accordance with the Information and Consent Form signed by the participants
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Studies of the drug tested here: Fish Oils
May Faraj, PDt, PhD