Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. Participating subjects with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy who supplemented with three grams of omega -3 fatty acids daily for eight weeks had significant improvements in serum triglycerides and IL-10 levels compared to controls.
Chagas disease is an infection caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi 1, a parasite affecting approximately 6 million people worldwide, mostly in Latin America 2. Chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC) is an important clinical manifestation of Chagas disease, including heart failure, ventricular and atrial arrhythmias, atrioventricular blocks, thromboembolism, stroke and sudden death 3. The degree of heart damage is related to the progressive increase in inflammation and the resulting myocarditis as well as a constant low-grade infection with Trypanosoma cruzi. 4. Finding ways to stem this inflammation and manage the infection prompted Brazilian researchers to investigate the effects of omega-3 PUFAs on markers of inflammation and lipid profile in chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy patients.
In a 2017 double-blind clinical trial 5, 40 Brazilian patients with Chagas cardiomyopathy between the ages of 46 and 63 were given either 3 grams of omega-3 fatty acids (1.8 grams of EPA and 1.2 grams of DHA = 21patients) or 3 grams of a placebo (corn oil = 19 patients) per day for 8 weeks. Blood samples were drawn before and after the study.
After 8 weeks of Omega-3 supplementation, significantly greater improvements were found in serum triglycerides (−21.1 vs. −4.1; p = 0.05) and IL-10 levels (−10.6 vs.−35.7; p = 0.01) in comparison to controls.
| Omega-3 group | Placebo | p – value between groups | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triglycerides | 18.4% decrease (93.8 to 76.6) | 7.5% decrease (97.7 to 90.4) | 0.05 |
| IL-10 | 23.6% decrease (70.4 to 53.8) | 45% decrease (105.2 to 56.3) | 0.01 |
These results carry significance as increased inflammation due to elevated triglyceride levels coupled with decreased anti-inflammatory proteins like IL-10 are thought to be a manifestation of Chagas cardiomyopathy.
These results demonstrate the importance of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation as an adjunct treatment strategy for patients with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy. Further studies evaluating the effects of omega-3 supplementation on reducing inflammation and improving clinical outcomes in chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy are warranted.
Source: da Silva, Paula Simplício, Mauro Felippe Felix Mediano, Gilberto Marcelo Sperandio da Silva, Patricia Dias de Brito, Claudia Santos de Aguiar Cardoso, Cristiane Fonseca de Almeida, Luiz Henrique Conde Sangenis et al. “Omega-3 supplementation on inflammatory markers in patients with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy: a randomized clinical study.” Nutrition journal 16, no. 1 (2017): 36.
© The Author(s). 2017 Open Access Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article unless otherwise stated.
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Posted March 5, 2018.
References:
- Rassi A, de Rezende JM. American trypanosomiasis (Chagas disease). Infectious Disease Clinics. 2012;26(2):275-291.
- WHO. Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis). 2017; Factsheet on Chagas disease. Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs340/en/. Accessed February 19, 2018, 2018.
- Marin-Neto JA, Simões MV, Sarabanda ÁVL. Chagas’ heart disease. Arquivos brasileiros de cardiologia. 1999;72(3):247-280.
- Ribeiro AL, Nunes MP, Teixeira MM, Rocha MO. Diagnosis and management of Chagas disease and cardiomyopathy. Nature Reviews Cardiology. 2012;9(10):576.
- da Silva PS, Mediano MFF, da Silva GMS, et al. Omega-3 supplementation on inflammatory markers in patients with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy: a randomized clinical study. Nutrition journal. 2017;16(1):36.
