Intravenous treatment with omega-3 fatty acids in elderly hospitalised patients in intensive care due to COVID seems to help the immune system’s ability to cope with the virus, according to a study published in the journal Clinical and Translational Medicine. These findings could lead to a complementary, cost-effective treatment for COVID.
In COVID patients, the immune system and the body’s activation of white blood cells are over-activated. It can lead to a so-called systemic inflammatory storm, which worsens the disease state and can cause complications such as sepsis and heart failure.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, among others, have now shown that omega-3 fatty acids can stimulate active healing of inflammation, without inhibiting the immune response. By accelerating the healing of the inflammation without compromising the body’s immune system, it could be possible to counteract the most serious complications of COVID, researchers believe.
Stimulated inflammation-healing molecules
The treatment effect was found by mapping inflammatory biomarkers and immunological reactions.
“First, we showed that fatty acid metabolism to inflammation-healing molecules was stimulated in those patients treated with omega-3 fatty acids. By isolating immune cells before, during, and after treatment, we were able to show that immune function improved,” said corresponding author Magnus Bäck, senior consultant in cardiology and professor at Karolinska Institutet.
Planning further studies
Researchers are now planning for larger clinical studies, which will be needed to show whether the course of the disease in severe COVID is improved through treatment with omega-3 fatty acids.
“It is important that even our weakest and frailest patients have the opportunity to participate in studies when the enemy, in this case, COVID, is on the attack and that they can fight the disease with the help of the medicine,” said Dorota Religa, senior consultant and professor in geriatrics at Karolinska Institutet.
“Stimulating the healing of inflammation with omega-3 fatty acids has the potential to lead to a new, cost-effective low-risk treatment for COVID-19, as a complement to existing treatment,” said Prof Magnus Bäck.
Source: Karolinska Institutet
