olive oil

Olive oil was employed by AstraZeneca as the placebo (control) intervention in major Phase III clinical trials, including ESPRIT and STRENGTH, which evaluated the efficacy and safety of Epanova (omega-3-carboxylic acids) in patients with hypertriglyceridemia and high cardiovascular risk. In these studies, olive oil was typically administered in 1-gram capsules to match the appearance and dosing of the active omega-3 fatty acid treatment. The use of olive oil as a placebo was intended to provide a neutral lipid comparator, contrasting with the mineral oil placebo used in other cardiovascular outcome trials like REDUCE-IT, which some researchers argued might have had negative effects on lipid biomarkers. Olive oil is primarily composed of triglycerides containing the monounsaturated fatty acid oleic acid.