title: Effectiveness of omega-3 polysaturated fatty acids (fish oil) supplementation for treating hypertriglyceridemia in children and adolescents.
abstract: Limited pharmacological options are available for management pediatric hypertriglyceridemia. We examined the effectiveness of dietary fish oil supplementation as a means to reduce triglyceride levels in pediatric patients. We reviewed 111 children aged 8 to 18 years with hypertriglyceridemia (≥1.5 mmol/L) undergoing treatment in a specialized dyslipidemia clinic. At the treating cardiologist's discretion, 60 subjects received nonprescription fish oil supplementation (500-1000 mg/d), while the remaining patients did not. Initially there were no baseline differences between groups, including the use of concomitant lipid-lowering medication. Treatment with fish oil was associated with a potential clinically relevant but non-statistically significant decrease in triglycerides and triglyceride-to-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio. Fish oil had no effect on HDL-cholesterol, non-HDL-cholesterol, or total cholesterol. All associations remained unchanged when adjusted for body mass index z score, nutrition, physical activity, and screen time. Fish oil supplementation was not significantly effective in treating hypertriglyceridemia in pediatric patients.
authors.affiliation: Labatt Family Heart Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Nita
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chahal
authors.affiliation: Labatt Family Heart Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Cedric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Manlhiot
authors.affiliation: Labatt Family Heart Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Labatt Family Heart Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada brian.mccrindle@sickkids.ca.
authors.forename: Brian W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: McCrindle
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005395:Fish Oils / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D015228:Hypertriglyceridemia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D005395:Fish Oils
keywords: dyslipidemia; fish oil; pediatrics; treatment