Effects of Marine n -3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Heart Rate Variability and Heart Rate in Patients on Chronic Dialysis: A Randomized Controlled Trial

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 10; no. 9; p. 1313
• Main Authors: Rantanen, Jesper M, Riahi, Sam, Johansen, Martin B, Schmidt, Erik B, Christensen, Jeppe H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 17-09-2018; MDPI
• Subjects: Aged; Autonomic Nervous System - physiopathology; Cardiac arrhythmia; Cardiovascular disease; Clinical trials; Death, Sudden, Cardiac - prevention & control; Denmark; Dialysis; Dietary Supplements; Docosahexaenoic Acids - administration & dosage; Double-Blind Method; Eicosapentaenoic Acid - administration & dosage; Electrolytes; end-stage renal disease; Family medical history; Fatty acids; Female; Fish oils; Heart - innervation; Heart attacks; Heart Rate; heart rate variability; Hospitals; Humans; Kidney diseases; Laboratories; Male; Middle age; Middle Aged; Mortality; n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids; Patients; Peritoneal dialysis; Randomization; Renal Dialysis - adverse effects; Renal Dialysis - mortality; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic - diagnosis; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic - mortality; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic - physiopathology; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic - therapy; Risk Factors; Risk reduction; sudden cardiac death; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome; Vagus nerve; Variability; Ventricle; Denmark; United Kingdom > UK; dialysis; fish oils; heart rate; heart rate variability; n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids; sudden cardiac death; end-stage renal disease
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu10091313

Marine
-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) may improve autonomic dysfunction, as indicated by an increase in heart rate variability (HRV) and reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of marine
-3 PUFA on 24-h HRV in patients on chronic dialysis, who have a high risk of sudden cardiac death. Between June 2014 and March 2016, 112 patients on chronic dialysis from Denmark were allocated to a daily supplement of 2 g marine
-3 PUFA or control for three months in a randomized, double-blinded, controlled trial. A 48-h Holter monitoring was performed and mean 24-h HRV indices for the two days were available in 85 patients. The mean age was 62.3 years (SD: 14.3) and median dialysis vintage was 1.7 years (IQR: 0.5, 6.4). Within-group and between-group changes in outcome were evaluated by a paired and two sample
-test, respectively. Marine
3 PUFA did not change the primary endpoint SDNN (SD of all RR-intervals) reflecting overall HRV, but other HRV indices increased and the mean RR-interval increased significantly, corresponding to a decrease in heart rate by 2.5 beats per minute (
= 0.04). In conclusion, marine
-3 PUFA did not change SDNN, but the mean heart rate was significantly reduced and changes in other HRV-indices were also observed, indicating an increase in vagal modulation that might be protective against malignant ventricular arrhythmias.