Key result
Fish-oil supplementation improves 5 cardiovascular biomarkers against PM2.5 exposure compared to placebo.
Why the study?
Few studies had evaluated whether omega-3 fatty acid or dietary fish-oil supplementation protects cardiovascular health against fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure in highly polluted areas.
Does dietary fish-oil supplementation (2.5 g/day) protect cardiovascular biomarkers and blood pressure against acute PM2.5 air pollution exposure in healthy young adults in China?
RCT (n=65)
Double-blind
Randomly assigned
No
Does dietary fish-oil supplementation (2.5 g/day) protect cardiovascular biomarkers and blood pressure against acute PM2.5 air pollution exposure in healthy young adults in China?
Dietary fish-oil supplementation of 2.5 g/day provides short-term subclinical cardiovascular biomarker protection against fine particulate air pollution exposure in healthy young adults.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Captured external expert commentary on this paper, strongest first. Original sources are linked where available.
“Compared with the placebo group, the fish-oil group showed an overall biomarker profile that indicates better cardiovascular health.”
“Given the lack of evidence regarding the efficacy of marine-derived omega-3 fatty acids as well as other personalized interventions to protect against clinical cardiovascular events induced by air pollution, it is premature to recommend their wide-scale use.”
“It’s possible the fish-based and plant-based omega fatty acids have different effects.”
Fish-oil supplementation may blunt PM2.5 effects on biomarkers in polluted regions; extends RCT evidence for omega-3 in environmental cardiology.
Background Few studies have evaluated the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation against fine particulate matter (aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm [PM2.5]) exposure in highly polluted areas. Objectives The authors sought to evaluate whether dietary fish-oil supplementation protects cardiovascular health against PM2.5 exposure in China. Methods This is a randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled trial among 65 healthy college students in Shanghai, China. Participants were randomly assigned to either the placebo group or the intervention group with dietary fish-oil supplementation of 2.5 g/day from September 2017 to January 2018, and received 4 rounds of health examinations in the last 2 months of treatments. Fixed-site PM2.5 concentrations on campus were measured in real time. The authors measured blood pressure and 18 biomarkers of systematic inflammation, coagulation, endothelial function, oxidative stress, antioxidant activity, cardiometabolism, and neuroendocrine stress response. Acute effects of PM2.5 on these outcomes were evaluated within each group using linear mixed-effect models. Results The average PM2.5 level was 38 μg/m3 during the study period. Compared with the placebo group, the fish-oil group showed relatively stable levels of most biomarkers in response to changes in PM2.5 exposure. Between-group differences associated with PM2.5 exposure varied by biomarkers and by lags of exposure. The authors observed beneficial effects of fish-oil supplementation on 5 biomarkers of blood inflammation, coagulation, endothelial function, oxidative stress, and neuroendocrine stress response in the fish-oil group at a false discovery rate of <0.05. Conclusions This trial shows that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation is associated with short-term subclinical cardiovascular benefits against PM2.5 exposure among healthy young adults in China. (Effect of Dietary Supplemental Fish Oil in Alleviating Health Hazards Associated With Air Pollution; NCT03255187).
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Lin et al. (2019) conducted an RCT in Healthy young adults exposed to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (n=65). Dietary fish-oil supplementation (omega-3 fatty acid) vs. Placebo was evaluated on Blood pressure and 18 biomarkers of systemic inflammation, coagulation, endothelial function, oxidative stress, antioxidant activity, cardiometabolism, and neuroendocrine stress response (p=<0.05 (false discovery rate)). Dietary fish-oil supplementation (2.5 g/day) significantly improved 5 cardiovascular biomarkers of inflammation, coagulation, and endothelial function against PM2.5 exposure vs placebo (FDR <0.05).
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