Sperling R I, Weinblatt M, Robin J L, Ravalese J, Hoover R L, House F, Coblyn J S, Fraser P A, Spur B W, Robinson D R
Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Arthritis Rheum. 1987 Sep;30(9):988-97. doi: 10.1002/art.1780300905.
Twelve patients with active rheumatoid arthritis supplemented their usual diet with 20 gm of Max-EPA fish oil, daily, for 6 weeks. Following this supplementation, the ratio of arachidonic acid to eicosapentaenoic acid in the patients' neutrophil cellular lipids decreased from 81:1 to 2.7:1, and the mean generation of leukotriene B4 (with calcium ionophore stimulation) significantly declined by 33%. The mean neutrophil chemotaxis to both leukotriene B4 and FMLP significantly increased toward the normal range at week 6. The generation of 5-lipoxygenase products by calcium ionophore-stimulated monocytes was not significantly suppressed, but a significant decline (37%) in platelet-activating factor generation was noted at week 6. The modulation of these measures of leukocyte inflammatory potential suggests that fish oil supplementation may have an antiinflammatory effect.
