title: The effects of low doses of n-3 fatty acid supplementation on blood pressure in hypertensive subjects. A randomized controlled trial.
abstract: The potential antihypertensive effects after prolonged use of small doses of fish oils remain undefined. Therefore, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, controlled crossover study comparing low doses of n-3 fatty acid supplementation with n-6 fatty acids on blood pressure in 33 subjects with mild hypertension. After a 6-week stabilization period, subjects ingested either 2.04 g/d of n-3 fatty acids or safflower oil (4.8 g/d of linoleic acid) for 12 weeks, then crossed over to the alternative encapsulated oil for another 12 weeks, after a 4-week washout period. All antihypertensive drug therapy had been discontinued. For the combined data, there were significant reductions from pretreatment values for supine diastolic (-2.4 mm Hg) and sitting systolic (-4.1 mm Hg) blood pressure after fish oil; no significant changes occurred after safflower oil control. Compared with safflower oil, fish oil supplementation was associated with a statistically significant reduction in mean supine diastolic blood pressure of 3.7 mm Hg (95% confidence interval, -7.3 and 0.1). Sitting diastolic and mean arterial pressures showed a sequence effect; therefore, only the initial period was used in an analysis of their responses. There were significant decreases from pretreatment values for sitting diastolic (-4.4 mm Hg), mean arterial (-5.1 mm Hg), and systolic (-6.5 mm Hg) blood pressure after fish oil. The differences between groups after the 12-week period remained statistically significant for sitting diastolic and sitting mean arterial blood pressures. No adverse changes were noted in plasma levels of lipid-related measures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, OH 45267.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Radack
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Deck
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Huster
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000097:blood; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005395:Fish Oils; D005527:Food, Fortified; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000178:diet therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012450:Safflower Oil
chemical_list: D005395:Fish Oils; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D012450:Safflower Oil; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid