Short-Term, High-Dose Fish Oil Supplementation Increases the Production of Omega-3 Fatty Acid–Derived Mediators in Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease (the OMEGA-PAD I Trial)

Study answer

What this study found

Fish oil did not improve the primary clinical endpoint of brachial artery flow-mediated dilation versus placebo. Change in FMD was 0.7 ± 1.8% with fish oil and 0.6 ± 2.5% with placebo, with no between-group difference (P=0.86). However, fish oil significantly improved the omega-3 index (+4 ± 1% vs +0.1 ± 0.9%, P<0.0001) and reduced triglycerides (−34 ± 46 mg/dL vs −10 ± 43 mg/dL, between-group P=0.02). EPA- and DHA-derived lipid mediators increased with fish oil, and no adverse events were reported.

Study & population

Randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 80 veterans with symptomatic peripheral artery disease and intermittent claudication treated at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

Intervention

Fish oil (ProOmega) was given orally at 4.4 g/day of n-3 PUFA for 1 month, administered as 2.2 g twice daily.

Key limitation

The intervention was short term (1 month) and involved a small, single-center veteran cohort that was predominantly older male and White, limiting generalizability.

View full study detailsView sourceOpen PDF

Original abstract