High levels of Vegetable Omega-3 may improve Prognosis in Patients With HF

Researchers have found in a new study that high levels of Vegetable Omega-3 may improve Prognosis in Patients With heart failure. Further the study found that Heart failure patients with bottom 25% alpha-linolenic acid in serum phospholipids had worse prognoses during mid-term follow-up.

The study was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Heart failure cases impose a socioeconomic burden and there is a dire need for cost-effective strategies to promote quality of life in patients with heart failure. Previous literature reported the benefits of marine omega-3 fatty acids and plant-based dietary patterns in heart failure prognosis. Hence, researchers conducted a study to explore whether dietary alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), the main plant omega-3, shows a better prognosis in HF. Serum phospholipids reflect long-term dietary ALA intake and their metabolism. ALA was determined in serum phospholipids by gas chromatography in 905 ambulatory patients with HF caused by different etiologies.

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Results

• 140 all-cause deaths, 85 cardiovascular (CV) deaths, and 141 first HF hospitalizations (composite of all-cause death and first HF hospitalization, n = 238) were documented after a median follow-up of 2.4 years.
• Compared with patients at the lowest quartile of ALA in serum phospholipids (Q1), those at the 3 upper quartiles (Q2-Q4) exhibited a reduction in the risk of a composite of all-cause death and first HF hospitalization as observed in the Cox regression analysis.
• Statistically significant reductions were observed for all-cause death, CV death, first HF hospitalization, and the composite of CV death and HF hospitalization.

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This study throws light on who should be targeted for interventions. Any heart failure patient with the bottom 25% ALA levels in serum phospholipids at a mid-term follow-up will have the worst prognosis. Hence, they should be targeted for testing dietary ALA-rich interventions to promote quality of life.

Further reading: Lázaro I, Lupón J, Cediel G, et al. Relationship of Circulating Vegetable Omega-3 to Prognosis in Patients With Heart Failure. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022;80(18):1751-1758. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2022.08.771