BRESCIA, Italy—Omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs) increased heart function, prolonged exercise duration and reduced hospitalizations in heart failure patients who were already receiving conventional care, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (DOI:10.1016/j.jacc.2010.11.017). Specifically, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) from fish oil increased left ventricle function and in patients who suffer from nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy.
Nonischemic heart diseases are not related to poor coronary artery blood supply, and dilated cardiomyopathy is the most common type of nonischemic cardiomyopathy. In dilated cardiomyopathy, the heart's ability to pump blood is decreased because the heart's main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, is enlarged, dilated and weak.
Researchers from University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy, randomized 133 patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy and minimal symptoms on standard therapy were to 2g of PUFAs or placebo. Left ventricular function and functional capacity were assessed prospectively by echocardiography and cardiopulmonary exercise testing.
One year later, the PUFAs group and the placebo group differed significantly (P<0.001) in regard to: left ventricular ejection fraction (increased by 10.4 percent and decreased by 5.0 percent, respectively); peak VO2 (increased by 6.2 percent and decreased by 4.5 percent, respectively); exercise duration (increased by 7.5 percent and decreased by 4.8 percent, respectively); and mean New York Heart Association functional class (decreased from 1.88 ± 0.33 to 1.61 ± 0.49 and increased from 1.83 ± 0.38 to 2.14 ± 0.65, respectively). The hospitalization rates for HF were 6 percent in the PUFAs and 30 percent in the placebo group (P=0.0002).
“Given these promising results, larger studies are in order to confirm our findings," the study authors wrote.
