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Omega 6:3 fatty acid ratio associated with refractory pain in patients with early RA
Omega 6:3 fatty acid ratio was linked with unacceptable and refractory pain, but not with inflammatory pain or systemic inflammation in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis after 3 months of treatment with methotrexate, according to recently published data.
Cecilia Lourdudoss, PhD, in the Department of Medicine Solna at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, and colleagues studied 591 patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who underwent 3 months of methotrexate monotherapy. Of the patients, 125 had unacceptable pain; 92 of which had refractory pain; and 33 had inflammatory pain after treatment. Researchers linked dietary data from food frequency questionnaires with data on unacceptable pain from VAS and C-reactive protein (CRP) scores.
Researchers found omega-3 fatty acid (FA) consumption was inversely associated with unacceptable pain (ratio = 0.57) and refractory pain (ratio = 0.47). Omega-6:3 ratio — but not omega-6 FA alone — correlated with unacceptable pain (ratio = 1.7) and refractory pain (ratio = 2.33). Dietary data questionnaire results were not associated with either inflammatory pain or erythrocyte sedimentation rate-CRP at follow-up. In addition, omega-3 supplementation was not linked with any pain measure. – by Will Offit
Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.