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Fish Oil Supplements and Fine Particulate Air Pollution
Study Questions:
Does dietary fish-oil supplementation protect against cardiovascular events among populations with particulate matter <2.5 μm (PM2.5) exposure?
Methods:
In a double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of 65 healthy college students in Shanghai, China, participants were randomized to receive placebo or dietary fish-oil supplementation of 2.5 g/day between September 2017 and January 2018. PM2.5 concentrations on the college campus were measured, along with blood pressure and biomarkers of systemic inflammation, coagulation, endothelial function, oxidative stress, antioxidant activity, cardiometabolism, and neuroendocrine stress response.
Results:
The average PM2.5 level was 38 μg/m3 during the study period. Participants randomized to take fish-oil showed stable levels of most biomarkers despite changes in PM2.5 exposure. Fish-oil supplementation was associated with lower levels of biomarkers associated with inflammation, coagulation, endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and neuroendocrine stress response.
Conclusions:
The authors concluded that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation is associated with short-term subclinical cardiovascular benefits against PM2.5 exposure in healthy young Chinese adults.
Perspective:
Air pollution has previously been linked to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in epidemiologic studies. Prior work has explored the benefit of indoor air purifiers and respirators in reducing PM2.5 levels and cardiovascular risk. Prior work has also found lower levels of many subclinical cardiovascular biomarkers among regular users of fish-oil supplements. This randomized trial found a similar enefit of fish-oil supplementation among healthy young adults exposed to high levels of PM2.5 in China. These results diverge from prior work in middle-aged patients, where no benefit of fish-oil supplementation was found. However, the longer exposure to fish-oil in this study may have offered greater benefit. These findings need to be replicated in larger studies of higher-risk patients before widespread use of fish-oil for primary prevention in high air pollution environments can be recommended.
Clinical Topics: Congenital Heart Disease and Pediatric Cardiology, Diabetes and Cardiometabolic Disease, Dyslipidemia, Prevention, CHD and Pediatrics and Arrhythmias, CHD and Pediatrics and Prevention, CHD and Pediatrics and Quality Improvement, Lipid Metabolism, Nonstatins, Diet
Keywords: Air Pollutants, Air Pollution, Antioxidant Response Elements, Biomarkers, Blood Pressure, Blood Pressure Determination, Coagulants, Dietary Fats, Unsaturated, Dietary Supplements, Endothelium, Fatty Acids, Omega-3, Fish Oils, Inflammation, Metabolic Syndrome, Neuroendocrine Cells, Particulate Matter, Primary Prevention, Risk Factors, Young Adult
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