Effects of omega-3 fatty acids (PUFA) on treatment nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)

INTRODUCTION: There is a limited number of effective drug treatments available for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Polyunsaturaturated fatty acid (PUFAs) Omega 3 seems to be effective in treating hepatic steatosis in experimental animal models, however there is a limited number of humans randomized studies available in the literature. The purpose of the present study is to prospectively evaluate the treatment efficacy of the PUFAs Omega 3 from flaxseed and fish in patients with NASH disease. METHODS: A total of sixty biopsy confirmed NASH patients were included in a double blind, randomized, placebo controlled study. They were randomized into two groups: Omega 3 group (n = 32) where patients received a total of 945mg of PUFAs Omega 3 and Placebo group (n = 28) where patients received only mineral oil. After a 6 month treatment all patients underwent a new liver biopsy. Primary goal was to evaluate and compare liver histologic changes, according to Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) activity score (NAS), between pre and post treatment biopsies. Secondary goal was to evaluate serum transaminases, lipid profile and serum non fasting glucose, anthropometric parameters and serum IL6 at 0, 3 and 6 month treatment. A serum Omega 3 dosage was performed at 0 and 6 month as treatment proof. RESULTS: A total of 50 patients finished the study, 25 from each original group. NAS score improved or was unaltered in 78.26% of the placebo group and in 55.56% of the Omega 3 group (p = 0,978). Lobular liver inflammation was reduced or unaltered in 91.3% and in 66.67% respectively of the placebo and Omega 3 groups (p = 0,994). Omega 3 alone was not able to reduce liver steatosis, hepatocelular balonization or fibrosis. Biochemical analysis revealed reduction on serum triglycerides after 3 month treatment for the Omega 3 group patients, when compared to placebo (p=0,011). Serum transaminases, total cholesterol and fractions, non fasting glucose and IL-6 were found to have no changes after 6 month treatment, when compared to placebo. After 6 month we found serum rise of Omega 3 on its forms as ALA (p= 0,014) and EPA (p = 0,016), and of the relation Omega 3/Omega 6 (p = 0,018), besides a reduction of the ARA (p= 0,028). The placebo group demonstrated to have an Omega 3 serum rise of its forms as EPA (p = 0,03) and DHA (p = 0,036) and of the relation Omega3/Omega6 (p = 0,007). These findings are proof that the placebo group also ingested some form of Omega 3. There is a difference between the groups regarding the serum Omega 3 on the ARA relation, which was reduced in the Omega 3 group. Due to the Omega 3 ingestion by the placebo group we decided to not consider the double blind and to perform a new statistic analysis based on the serum Omega 3 rise and compare with the improvement on NAS histologic variables. The analysis revealed that DHA rise was positively related with an improvement or unchanged of lobular inflammation after 6 months (p= 0,014). CONCLUSIONS: The present study was able to demonstrate that the AGPI Omega 3 from flaxseed and fish can not improve hepatic histology, most of the biochemical parameters and serum levels of IL-6. However this type of supplementation revealed a significant impact over lipid profile from NASH patients, providing an rise on AGPI Omega 3 levels and reducing the levels of Araquidonic Acid (AA) and triglycerides. The post hoc analysis demonstrated a significative correlation between the serum rise of DHA and the improvement of lobular inflammation, regardless of the received treatment. The fact that the placebo group ingested Omega 3 revealed to be a limitation of the present study. More studies are recommended to confirm our findings (ID 01992809)