Maintaining an Omega-3 Index (O3I) of 8% or above is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and sudden cardiac death.
An O3I of 8% or above is also associated with better asthma control, lower inhaled corticosteroid medication dose, and lower systemic inflammatory markers, suggesting that n-3 PUFA may have a role in asthma management.
- Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease, associated with systemic inflammation.
- Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) have established anti-inflammatory effects, thus having potential as an adjunct therapy in asthma.
- This study aimed to compare erythrocyte n-3 PUFA in adults with (n = 255) and without (n = 137) asthma and determine the relationship between erythrocyte n-3 PUFA and clinical asthma outcomes.
- A higher O3I was observed in subjects with controlled or partially controlled asthma (ACQ < 1.5) compared to subjects with uncontrolled asthma (ACQ ≥ 1.5) (6.0% (5.4-7.2) versus 5.6% (4.6-6.4) p = 0.033).
- Subjects with a high O3I (≥8%) had a lower maintenance dose of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) compared to those with a low O3I (<8%) (1000 μg (400-1000) versus 1000 μg (500-2000) p = 0.019).
- This study demonstrates that a higher O3I is associated with better asthma control and with lower ICS dose, suggesting that a higher erythrocyte n-3 PUFA level may have a role in asthma management.
Source: Stoodley, Isobel et al. “Higher Omega-3 Index Is Associated with Better Asthma Control and Lower Medication Dose: A Cross-Sectional Study.” Nutrients vol. 12,1 74. 27 Dec. 2019, doi:10.3390/nu12010074 This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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