Effect of fish oil supplements on serum paraoxonase activity in female patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a double-blind randomized controlled trial

This study was conducted to determine the effect of fish oil [FO] supplements on high density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C], apolipoprotein-Al [Apo-Al], malondialdehyde [MDA], arylesterase [Aryl], and paraoxonase-1 [PON1] activity in female patients with rheumatoid arthritis [RA]. A total of 90 RA patients were randomly allocated into two groups that were treated with one FO pearl [1 gr] daily or placebo for three months in addition to conventional treatment. HDL-C, Apo-Al, and MDA levels as well as POW and Aryl activities were measured before and after treatment. Independent t-test was used to match basal parameters of case and control groups. Paired t-test was used to assess significance of the differences. Correlation was evaluated by Pearson's test and the statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. No significant differences were noted between FO and placebo patients with regards to age, disease duration, post-menopausal status, conventional therapy, body mass index [BMI], and numbers of swollen and tender joints at the beginning of the study. There were 83 patients who completed the three-month follow up. Serum levels of HDL-C [P = 0.018], Apo-Al [P = 0.165], Aryl [P = 0.026], and POW [P = 0.049] activity increased, whereas MDA levels decreased significantly with FO supplementation [P= 0.077]. Significant correlations between increased POW activity and both HDL-C [P = 0.007, r = 0.419] and Apo-Al [P < 0.001, r = 0.742] concentrations as well as between HDL-C and Apo Al levels [P= 0.01, r = 0.403] were found. According to the results of this study, EQ could increase serum HDL-C and PQN1 levels and Aryl activity in female patients with RA