Omega-3 May Slash Levels of Heart Disease Risk Factor
Data from 11 trials, including 720 people with doses of omega-3 ranging from 0.2 to 6 grams per day, concluded that supplementation with omega-3s was associated with lower blood levels of homocysteine.
"Our systematic review provides, to our knowledge, the most comprehensive assessment to date of the effects of omega-3 PUFAs on plasma homocysteine," the researchers wrote in the journal Nutrition.
Researchers from China, Taiwan and Australia added that a more comprehensive analysis would benefit from additional rigorous and long-term trials. They also noted that such trials should also seek to measure whether the reduction in homocysteine levels actually produces an important health effect, such as a reduction in heart disease.
Previously, high levels of the amino acid hyperhomocysteinemia were said to be a marker for heart disease and were thought to be a risk factor for atherosclerotic disease, which contributes to heart attacks.
The link was founded on the observation that children with homocystinuria—a rare genetic condition causing extreme elevations in homocysteine levels—have higher rates of cardiovascular disease. Such an observation was therefore generalized to the wider population. This has led to the hypothesis that supplementation with B vitamins may reduce blood homocysteine levels and reduce the risk of heart disease.
Commenting on a potential mechanism for omega-3 to reduce homocysteine, the researchers note that this "has not yet been fully elucidated." They did propose, however, that omega-3 fatty acids may be related to a B-vitamin-dependent enzyme called cystathionine-gamma-lyase (CSE). Data from various animal and in vitro studies suggests that omega-3s may affect the genes responsible for CSE activity: CSE catalyzes the conversion of cystathionine (an intermediate in the conversion of homocysteine to cysteine).
"Subsequently, the […] reaction moves in a direction beneficial for decreasing homocysteine," the researchers hypothesized.
Nutrition; Published online ahead of print.
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