Fish Oil and Asthma in House Dust Mite Allergy

September 28, 2006 updated by: Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Hospital

Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Allergic Asthma After Allergen Challenge

Native populations consuming high amounts of fish suffer less from allergic diseases. The purpose of this study is to determine whether polyunsaturated fatty acids (fish oil) might have a disease modifying influence on asthmatics sensitized to house dust mite.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

Most asthmatics suffer from mild disease and non pharmacologic intervention would be beneficial for the majority of these subjects. We investigated the anti-inflammatory potential of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in allergic asthma.

In our parallel, double-blinded study, 23 patients allergic to house dust mite were randomly assigned to dietary supplementation with a PUFA enriched fat blend or placebo for five weeks. The verum contained eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) 450 mg/day, docosahexaenoic acid 180 mg/day, stearidonic acid 60mg/day, and gamma-linolenic acid 60 mg/day; the placebo consisted of mainly unsaturated and monosaturated fatty acids. After three weeks, the patients were challenged with low doses of inhalative house dust mite allergen for two weeks.

Following parameters were determined during low-dose allergen exposure in both groups: exhaled NO (eNO) as a marker of bronchial inflammation, clinical symptoms, FEV1, beta-agonist usage, and bronchial hyperreactivity, sputum eosinophils and sulfoleucotrienes. Compliance with the study protocol was controlled by the determination of PUFAs in plasma and erythrocytes.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

23

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 3

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 45 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • allergic sensitization to house dust mite as proven by skin test and specific IgE
  • normal lung function, episodic asthma

Exclusion Criteria:

  • history of hypersensitization towards fish oil, chronic illness, pregnancy

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
lung function, symptom score,exhalative nitric oxide, metacholine testing

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
sulfoleucotriens, eosinophilic cationic protein, sputum eosinophils, safety lab parameters (clinical chemistry, hematology, hemostasis)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Prof. Stefan Zielen, M.D., Goethe University, Dpt of Pulmonology/Allergy

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

  • Horrobin DF. Low prevalences of coronary heart disease (CHD), psoriasis, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis in Eskimos: are they caused by high dietary intake of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a genetic variation of essential fatty acid (EFA) metabolism or a combination of both? Med Hypotheses. 1987; 22(4):421-8. Stephensen CB. Fish oil and inflammatory disease: is asthma the next target for n-3 fatty acid supplements? Nutr Rev 2004; 62:486-489 Woods RK, Thien FC, Abramson MJ. Dietary marine fatty acids (fish oil) for asthma in adults and children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev2002; CD001283 Dry J, Vincent D. Effect of a fish oil diet on asthma: results of a 1-year double-blind study. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol 1991; 95:156-157 Stenius-Aarniala B, Aro A, Hakulinen A, Ahola I, Seppala E, Vapaatalo H. Evening primrose oil and fish oil are ineffective as supplementary treatment of bronchial asthma. Ann Allergy 1989; 62:534-537 Mickleborough TD, Lindley MR, Ionescu AA, Fly AD. Protective effect of fish oil supplementation on exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in asthma. Chest 2006; 129:39-49

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

April 1, 2004

Study Completion

November 1, 2004

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 25, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 25, 2006

First Posted (Estimate)

September 27, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 29, 2006

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 28, 2006

Last Verified

September 1, 2006

More Information

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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