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Fish oil supplementation may mitigate CV effects from air pollution
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Patients who took omega-3 fatty acid supplementation had short-term CV benefits against fine particulate matter exposure, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
“In areas with relatively heavy air pollution, supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids may represent a simple and effective way to protect cardiovascular health against hazardous exposure to ambient PM2.5,” Zhijing Lin, PhD, of the School of Public Health at Fudan University in Shanghai, and colleagues wrote.
Chinese college students
Researchers analyzed data from 65 patients who were colle students in Shanghai and were free from CVD. Patients were assigned 2.5 g marine-derived fish oil or placebo. The fish oil contained 60% of omega-3 fatty acids (36% eicosapentaenoic acid and 24% docosahexaenoic acid). Concentrations of ambient particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) were measured in real time.
Four rounds of follow-up were scheduled during the last 2 months of the intervention to collect data on time-location, individual characteristics, physical activity, BP measurements, fasting blood samples and food frequency. Several biomarkers were measured during follow-up including those of systemic inflammation, coagulation, endothelial function, systemic oxidative stress, antioxidant activity, insulin resistance and neuroendocrine stress hormones.
During the study, the average PM2.5 level was 38 µg/m3. Patients assigned fish oil had stable levels of most biomarkers as PM2.5 levels fluctuated.
Differences in PM2.5 exposure between both groups varied by lags of exposure and biomarkers. Patients in the fishoil supplementation group had beneficial effects on biomarkers of endothelial function, blood inflammation, oxidative stress, coagulation and neuroendocrine stress response with a false discovery rate less than 0.05.
“This protective effect is biologically plausible, given that DHA and EPA directly reduce generation of reactive oxygen species through alteration of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-oxidase activity,” Lin and colleagues wrote.
Further research needed
“Given the recent spate of emission-related events around the globe including increase in forest fires across the western United States during the past decade, trials to test community- and personal-level protection actions in this setting are desperately needed,” Sanjay Rajagopalan, MD, director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute and professor in the department of medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, and Robert D. Brook, MD, professor in the division of cardiovascular medicine at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, wrote in a related editorial. “Until such trials are completed, vulnerable patients such as those with preexisting cardiovascular disease should follow existing Air Quality Index recommendations and use commonsense actions such as avoidance whenever possible of heavily polluted locations (eg, roadways) and environments.” – by Darlene Dobkowski
Disclosures: The authors, Rajaopalan and Brook report no relevant financial disclosures.
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