Impact of Long-Term Supplementation with Fish Oil in Individuals with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Double Blind Randomized Placebo Controlled Clinical Trial - PubMed (original) (raw)

Randomized Controlled Trial

. 2020 Nov 2;12(11):3372.

doi: 10.3390/nu12113372.

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Randomized Controlled Trial

Impact of Long-Term Supplementation with Fish Oil in Individuals with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Double Blind Randomized Placebo Controlled Clinical Trial

Kátia Cansanção et al. Nutrients. 2020.

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic disease affecting up to 25% of the population worldwide. n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) have been associated with improved clinical parameters of NAFLD. Our purpose was to conduct a pilot study to evaluate the effects of n-3 PUFA supplementation in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study performed on NAFLD individuals diagnosed by ultrasound. Patients received n-3 PUFA (n = 13) or placebo (n = 11) supplementation for six months. Circulating miR-122 expression (determined by quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), liver fibrosis (FibroScan®), red blood cells (RBC) fatty acids (gas chromatography), and biochemical tests were performed at baseline and after intervention. After the intervention, in the n-3 PUFA group, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and omega index increased significantly in RBC (p = 0.022 and p = 0.012, respectively), in addition to a significant reduction in alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (p = 0.002) and liver fibrosis (p = 0.039). However, there was no change in the expression of circulating miR-122 in both groups. Our results showed that omega-3 PUFA were incorporated in erythrocytes after six months of fish oil supplementary intake, and that n-3 PUFA were effective in reducing ALP and liver fibrosis without altering the expression of circulating miR-122 in individuals with NAFLD.

Keywords: NAFLD; alkaline phosphatase; fish oil; liver fibrosis; miR-122; miRNA; polyunsaturated fatty acid.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

CONSORT flow chart of participant flow.

Figure 2

Figure 2

Percentage of DHA (A), EPA (B), n-3 DPA (C), total n-3 PUFAs (D), and omega-3 index (EPA + DHA) (E), in RBC, at baseline and after six months of intervention. Within-group differences were assessed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Values are medians and interquartile ranges (IQRs). * p < 0.05 is considered statistically significant. DHA, docosahexaenoic acid; EPA, eicosapentaenoic acid; n-3 DPA, omega-3 docosapentaenoic acid; n-3 PUFA, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid; RBC, red blood cell.

Figure 3

Figure 3

Comparison between the relative expression of miR-122 after six months of intervention. Within-group differences were assessed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

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