Plasma omega-3 fatty acid levels tied to lower sudden cardiac death rates in NSTEACS
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Among patients with non-ST-segment elevation ACS, a higher relative proportion of plasma long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid was associated with lower chances of sudden cardiac death, researchers reported.
“Although directional consistency was seen across the omega-3 subtypes, the magnitude of the effect appeared to be greatest for the long-chain marine-based omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, including docosahexaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid,” Thomas A. Zelniker, MD, MSc, cardiologist at Vienna General Hospital, Medical University of Vienna, and colleagues wrote.
Zelniker and colleagues analyzed patients with non-ST-segment elevation ACS (NSTEACS) from the MERLIN-TIMI 36 trial to determine an association between plasma chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid concentration and CV outcomes. The cohort included 203 patients who died from a CV cause, 325 patients with MI, 271 patients with ventricular tachycardia, 161 patients with atrial fibrillation and 1,612 controls with no events.
According to the researchers, after multivariable adjustment, patients with higher plasma content of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids had 18% lower odds of CV death (OR = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.68-0.98) that was mostly driven by 27% lower odds of sudden cardiac death (OR = 0.73; 95% CI, 0.55-0.97), whereas there was no significant association with CV death unrelated to sudden cardiac death.
When the cohort was stratified by quartiles according to amount of plasma long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, the greater the amount, the lower the odds of sudden cardiac death (P for trend = .025), according to the researchers.
In the analysis, patients in the top quartile of plasma long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids had 51% lower odds of CV death (OR = 0.49; 95% CI, 0.27-0.86) and 63% lower odds of sudden cardiac death (OR = 0.37; 95% CI, 0.16-0.56) compared with those in the bottom quartile.
According to the researchers, there was no significant relationship between alpha-linolenic acid levels and subsequent odds of CV death (OR = 0.92; 95% CI, 0.74-1.14) and sudden cardiac death (OR = 0.91; 95% CI, 0.67-1.25).
Zelniker and colleagues also detected no significant relationship between any omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and the odds of CV death unrelated to sudden cardiac death, MI, AF or early post-ACS ventricular tachycardia.
“These data lend support to the theory that certain types of omega-3 supplementation may reduce the risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes in higher-risk populations,” the researchers wrote.
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