Failing heart—medical aspectsFish Oils Produce Anti-inflammatory Effects and Improve Body Weight in Severe Heart Failure
Section snippets
Study Population
The study population consisted of 14 patients (10 men and 4 women, aged 48 to 74 years, mean 57 ± 12 years) with stable New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III to IV congestive heart failure (CHF), randomized in a double-blinded manner to active therapy with n-3 fatty acids (fish oils, n = 7) or placebo (n = 7). Patients were excluded if they had evidence of infectious, inflammatory or neoplastic disease. The etiology of heart failure was ischemic cardiomyopathy in 6 patients and idiopathic
Baseline Comparison
At baseline, there were no differences between placebo and fish oil–treated groups with respect to demographic, hemodynamic and biochemical characteristics (Table 1). At baseline, TNF-α production was similar between the fish oil and placebo groups (1.6 ± 1.1 vs 1.3 ± 0.9 pg/ml, respectively). In the sub-set of 8 patients in whom IL-1 production was assessed, there were also no baseline difference between the fish oil (n = 4) and placebo (n = 4) patients (1.9 ± 1.5 vs 0.7 ± 0.6 pg/ml,
Principle Findings
This study has demonstrated that dietary supplementation with n-3 fatty acid fish oils significantly inhibits synthesis of TNF-α and IL-1 in severe heart failure. Importantly, these anti-inflammatory effects are associated with an increase in body fat in this predominantly malnourished study population.
Cytokines and Cardiac Cachexia
Experimental evidence suggests that administration of TNF-α can cause cachexia in laboratory animals and during long-term administration in humans. This has led to the suggestion of this cytokine
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2023, American Journal of the Medical SciencesCitation Excerpt :This approach of nutritional and physical training support has potential but larger randomised control trial studies are needed. Fish oil-omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids; PUFA-, containing rich protein, rich calories, nutritional supplements and important amino acid have been used in CC patients112 and shown to reduce TNF-α.113 PUFA together with BCAA have potential benefits but extensive evidence is currently lacking.112
Omega-3: The Overlooked Evidence-Based Therapy for Heart Failure
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2020, Current Problems in CardiologyCitation Excerpt :Similarly, inorganic nitrates failed to improve CRF in HFrEF patients.236 N-3 PUFA can increase FM and decrease inflammatory markers such as tumor-necrosis factor α and Interleukin-1 in advanced HF population.237 In a small randomized controlled trial in 31 patients with HFrEF, a 3-month intervention with a supplement combining N-3 PUFA and dipeptide L-alanyl-L-glutamine was associated with increased LM measured with DXA, and a favorable trend toward an increase in peak VO2 compared to placebo.238
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Supported by a grant from the NIH/NOAA Biomedical Test Material Program.