A daily dose of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil significantly improved heart function in adults after heart attacks, based on data from a randomized trial of 358 heart attack survivors. The findings were published online Aug. 1 in Circulation.
Patients who received 4 grams of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil (O-3FA) for 6 months had significant reductions in left ventricular end-systolic volume index (–5.8%) and noninfarct myocardial fibrosis (–5.6%), compared with placebo patients, Bobak Heydari, MD, MPH, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, and colleagues.
The effects remained significant after adjusting for factors including guideline-based standard post-heart attack medical therapies, they noted.
Treatment with omega-3 fatty acids (O-3FA) “also was associated with a significant reduction of both biomarkers of inflammation (myeloperoxidase, lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2) and myocardial fibrosis (ST2),” the researchers wrote. “We therefore speculate that O-3FA treatment provides the aforementioned improvement in LV remodeling and noninfarct myocardial fibrosis through suppression of inflammation at both systemic and myocardial levels during the convalescent healing phase after acute MI,” they noted.
The results build on data from a previous study showing an association between daily doses of O-3FA and improved survival rates in heart attack patients, but the specific impact on heart structure and tissue has not been well studied, the researchers noted (Circulation. 2016;134:378-91 doi: 10.1161/circulationaha.115.019949).
The OMEGA-REMODEL trial (Omega-3 Acid Ethyl Esters on Left Ventricular Remodeling After Acute Myocardial Infarction) was designed to assess the impact of omega-3 fatty acids on heart healing after a heart attack. The average age of the patients was about 60 years. Demographic characteristics and cardiovascular disease histories were not significantly different between the groups.
Compliance for both treatment and placebo groups was 96% based on pill counts. Nausea was the most common side effect, reported by 5.9% of treatment patients and 5.4% of placebo patients. No serious adverse events associated with treatment were reported.
The findings were limited by several factors, including the possible use of over-the-counter fish oil supplementation by patients, the researchers noted. “However, dose-response relationship between O-3FA therapy and our main study endpoints strongly supported our intention-to-treat analysis,” they said.
The study was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose.