Is There a Rational Use for n-3 Fatty Acids (Fish Oils) in Clinical Medicine?

Abstract

double bond at the third position from the methyl end of the molecule (fig. I). The parent fatty acid in this family, a-linolenic acid (l8:3n-3), may be elongated and desaturated to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) [20:5n-3] and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) [22:6n-3], although it is only poorly converted to the more polyunsaturated and desaturated n-3 fatty acids in humans (Bjerve 1989;Dyerberg et al. 1980; Renaud & Nordey 1983). [In the formulae for the fatty acids the first number gives the number of carbon atoms in the fatty acid molecule; the second digit indicates the number of double bonds; n (or omega) indicates the position of the first double 1. n-B Fatty Acids: What are They? Where are They? Do We Need Them? Although experimental studies in animals provided some evidence for an anti thrombotic effect of dietary n-3 fatty acids (Nordey 1965; Nordey et al. 1968), it was the pioneering work of Dyerberg et al. (1975, 1978) in Greenland Eskimos that introduced these fatty acids to clinical medicine, During the last decade it has been reported that the n-3 fatty acids have a wide range of important biological and physiological effects in humans. Despite this, the n-3 fatty acids have not previously been considered an essential nutrient, and only recently have international and national dietary recommendations even included requirements for n3 fatty acids. In 1982, Holman et al. reported alinolenic acid deficiency in a 6-year-old girl who had been treated with a formula diet low in n-3 fatty acids. The girl had visual and cerebral disturbances that disappeared rapidly after supplementation with these fatty acids. More recently, Bjerve (1989) has reported 9 patients with n-3 fatty acid deficiency. All 9 patients had been hospitalised for several years due to severe brain damage which necessitated long term gastric tube feeding. Dietary supply of n-3 fatty acids corrected biochemical deviations and clinical symptoms related to n-3 fatty acid deficiency.