Three‐month omega‐3 fatty acid supplementation does not improve cardiac diastolic function in healthy older adults

Abstract

Cardiac diastolic function declines with age. Animal studies suggest that the magnitude of the decline can be attenuated by omega‐3 fatty acid (n‐3) supplementation. Whether n‐3 supplementation improves cardiac diastolic function in healthy older humans is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether 3 months of n‐3 supplementation (1.9 and 1.5 g EPA and DHA/day) improved echocardiographic indices of cardiac diastolic function (including traditional Doppler, tissue Doppler imaging, and 2D speckle tracking imaging) in healthy older adults. Echocardiographic examinations were performed on 11 healthy older volunteers (average age: 66±3 yrs, 5 females) before and after n‐3 supplementation. Diastolic functional parameters, including mitral inflow velocities (E and A), myocardial diastolic velocity (Em and Am) and longitudinal early and late diastolic strain rates (E‐sr and A‐sr), were measured at rest. n‐3 supplementation had no effect on blood pressure and heart rate. Moreover, measures of diastolic function were unchanged (all P>0.05). These data suggest that daily ingestion of high doses of n‐ 3 supplements for 3 months is not effective in improving measures of cardiac diastolic function in healthy older adults.Supported by P01 HL096570 (LIS); R01 HL070222 (LIS); HL092309 (KDM); AG024420 (KDM); UL1 RR033184 (LIS).