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Marine Omega-3 (N-3) fatty acids for cardiovascular health: an update for 2020

Marine Omega-3 (N-3) fatty acids for cardiovascular health: an update for 2020
Marine Omega-3 (N-3) fatty acids for cardiovascular health: an update for 2020
The omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are found in seafood (especially fatty fish), supplements and concentrated pharmaceutical preparations. Long-term prospective cohort studies consistently demonstrate an association between higher intakes of fish, fatty fish and marine n-3 fatty acids (EPA + DHA) or higher levels of EPA and DHA in the body and lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD), especially coronary heart disease (CHD) and myocardial infarction (MI), and cardiovascular mortality in the general population. This cardioprotective effect of EPA and DHA is most likely due to the beneficial modulation of a number of known risk factors for CVD, such as blood lipids, blood pressure, heart rate and heart rate variability, platelet aggregation, endothelial function, and inflammation. Evidence for primary prevention of CVD through randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is relatively weak. In high-risk patients, especially in the secondary prevention setting (e.g., post-MI), a number of large RCTs support the use of EPA + DHA (or EPA alone) as confirmed through a recent meta-analysis. This review presents some of the key studies that have investigated EPA and DHA in the primary and secondary prevention of CVD, describes potential mechanisms for their cardioprotective effect, and evaluates the more recently published RCTs in the context of existing scientific literature.
Cardiovascular disease, Coronary heart disease, Docosahexaenoic acid, Eicosapentaenoic acid, Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
1422-0067
1-21
Innes, Jacqueline
32e03dd2-563b-4ff9-873e-600146df12c8
Calder, Philip
1797e54f-378e-4dcb-80a4-3e30018f07a6
Innes, Jacqueline
32e03dd2-563b-4ff9-873e-600146df12c8
Calder, Philip
1797e54f-378e-4dcb-80a4-3e30018f07a6

Innes, Jacqueline and Calder, Philip (2020) Marine Omega-3 (N-3) fatty acids for cardiovascular health: an update for 2020. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21 (4), 1-21, [1362]. (doi:10.3390/ijms21041362).

Record type: Review

Abstract

The omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are found in seafood (especially fatty fish), supplements and concentrated pharmaceutical preparations. Long-term prospective cohort studies consistently demonstrate an association between higher intakes of fish, fatty fish and marine n-3 fatty acids (EPA + DHA) or higher levels of EPA and DHA in the body and lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD), especially coronary heart disease (CHD) and myocardial infarction (MI), and cardiovascular mortality in the general population. This cardioprotective effect of EPA and DHA is most likely due to the beneficial modulation of a number of known risk factors for CVD, such as blood lipids, blood pressure, heart rate and heart rate variability, platelet aggregation, endothelial function, and inflammation. Evidence for primary prevention of CVD through randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is relatively weak. In high-risk patients, especially in the secondary prevention setting (e.g., post-MI), a number of large RCTs support the use of EPA + DHA (or EPA alone) as confirmed through a recent meta-analysis. This review presents some of the key studies that have investigated EPA and DHA in the primary and secondary prevention of CVD, describes potential mechanisms for their cardioprotective effect, and evaluates the more recently published RCTs in the context of existing scientific literature.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 14 February 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 18 February 2020
Published date: 18 February 2020
Additional Information: Funding Information: Conflicts of Interest: J.K.I. has no conflicts of interest to declare. P.C.C. has research funding from BASF AS; acts as an advisor/consultant to BASF AS, DSM, Cargill, Smartfish and Pfizer (now GSK) Consumer Healthcare; and has received reimbursement for travel and/or speaking from Fresenius Kabi, Pfizer (now GSK) Consumer Healthcare and Smartfish. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords: Cardiovascular disease, Coronary heart disease, Docosahexaenoic acid, Eicosapentaenoic acid, Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 438125
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/438125
ISSN: 1422-0067
PURE UUID: 31582366-bae7-464f-b869-284cde217d60
ORCID for Philip Calder: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6038-710X

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Date deposited: 02 Mar 2020 17:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:42

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Author: Jacqueline Innes
Author: Philip Calder ORCID iD

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