In patients with COVID-19, as a result of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the immune system and the activation of white blood cells are overactivated. This overactivation can lead to a so-called systemic inflammatory stormwho worsens the disease and can lead to complications such as sepsis and heart failure. The Karolinska Institutet team shows that omega-3 fatty acids can help soothe inflammation, without inhibiting the immune response.
Calm inflammation without compromising the immune system
With this effect of omega-3s documented here, it therefore seems possible to counter the most serious complications of COVID-19, according to the researchers. This is demonstrated by the research, conducted in 2020, at an early stage of the pandemic, when no vaccine was available.
The study followed 22 elderly patients hospitalized with COVID-19, half of whom were randomly assigned to intravenous treatment with omega-3 fatty acids for 5 days and the other half to intravenous administration of placebo (saline solution). The team, who tracked levels of inflammatory biomarkers and immunological responses, observed that:
- the metabolism of fatty acids into molecules that calm inflammation is stimulated in patients treated with omega-3 fatty acids;
- analysis of their immune cells before, during and following treatment shows an improvement in their immune function.
Larger clinical studies are already planned, which should validate the effectiveness of such IV administration of omega-3 fatty acids.
“It is vital that our weakest and most fragile patients have, beyond complementary therapeutic options, the possibility of participating in studies, which then allows them to better fight the disease”concludes Dorota Religa, co-author and professor of geriatrics and neurobiology at Karolinska Institutet.
Soothing systemic inflammation with omega-3 fatty acids has the potential to lead a low-risk and inexpensive complementary treatment for COVID-19, to be combined with existing treatments.
