Fish oil and baroreceptor function in man.
The present study was designed to investigate the effects of dietary fish oil supplements on blood pressure, the pressor response to norepinephrine, and sensitivity of the arterial baroreceptor reflex. 10 normotensive volunteers (six female and 4 male) aged between 21 and 35 years were given 6 g/day of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (3.6 g of eicosapentaenoic acid and 2.4 g of docosahexaenoic acid) during six weeks in addition to their usual diet. Resting blood pressure (BP), blood pressure response to exogenous norepinephrine (NE), and changes in heart rate (HR) associated with the blood pressure increase during NE infusion were determined before and at the end of the fish oil supplementation period. No changes in BP could be observed following the n-3 fatty acid supplements as compared to control values (110.7 +/- 2.4/63.5 +/- 2.9 mmHg vs. 110.6 +/- 1.9/60.1 +/- 1.3 mmHg). Blood pressure values during infusion of 0.1 micrograms/kg body weight of NE were 119.8 +/- 2.4/67.4 +/- 1.7 mmHg before the fish oil supplementation period and were also unchanged (119.9 +/- 2.0/70.5 +/- 1.9 mmHG) after the fish oil diet. HR during NE infusion was significantly (p less than 0.01) more suppressed after the fish oil supplementation period. During control, HR decreased in parallel with the rise in blood pressure from 69.2 +/- 2.8 min-1 to 63.9 +/- 2.4 min-1 (difference of 5.3 +/- 0.5 min-1), while after the fish oil supplementation HR fell from 68.1 +/- 3.5 min-1 to 56.2 +/- 2.6 min-1 (difference of 11.9 +/- 1.5 min-1).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Weisser
B
B
Medizinische Universitäts-Poliklinik, Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany.
Struck
A
A
Göbel
B O
BO
Vetter
H
H
Düsing
R
R
D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000494:pharmacology; D011311:Pressoreceptors / Q000187:drug effects*
D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid; D009638:Norepinephrine