Cardiovascular and endothelial effects of fish oil supplementation in healthy volunteers

Abstract

Consumption of fish oil (FO) is associated with reduced adverse cardiovascular events. In a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled trial, 26 subjects (17 men and 9 women; mean age [± SD] 31 ± 3.7 years) received 1 g FO capsule (n = 14) or placebo (1 g of corn oil, n = 12) for 14 days. At day 0 and day 14, heart rate (HR), blood pressure, endothelium- dependent brachial artery flow-mediated vasodilation (EDV), and endothelium-independent nitroglycerin-mediated vasodilation (EIDV) were assessed with ultrasound. FO supplementation resulted in a significant increase in EDV (20.4% ± 13.2% vs 9.9% ± 5.4%; P =.036) and EIDV (32.6% ± 16.8% vs 18.0% ± 14.9%; P =.043). Resting HR decreased by a mean of 5.9 ± 9.4 bpm (FO) compared with placebo (mean increase of 0.73 ± 4.8 bpm [P =.05]). FO supplementation in healthy subjects is associated with improved endothelial function and decreased resting HR. © 2007 Sage Publications.