Fatty acids supplementation, vascular effects

Khan F, Elherik K, Bolton-Smith C, et al. The effects of dietary fatty acid supplementation on endothelial function and vascular tone in healthy subjects. Cardiovasc Res 2003 59(4) 955-962. 

Fish oils and co-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids exhibit hypolipidemic effects and both antiaggregatory and antiinflammatory properties (Table 1), they may lead to complex and only partially understood alterations of cellular interactions. The available data raise the question of the potential therapeutic and preventive value of dietary supplementation with co-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in occlusive vascular diseases. 

In comparison to the n-6 series, much less attention has been paid to the involvement of n-3 fatty acids in diabetic neuropathy, although the beneficial effects offish-oil supplements, a rich source of these fatty acids, in the prevention of atherosclerosis and hypertension in animal models and patients with vascular complications is well known (Lands et al. 1992). Proposals for the mechanisms by which n-3 fatty acids act include serving as precursors of vasoactive prostanoids and acting as shmulants for production of relaxing factors, such as nitric oxide (Lands etal. 1992 Boulanger 1990 McVeigh etal. 1993). 

O Brien, P.M., and F. Broughton Pipkin. 1983. The effect of essential fatty acid and specific vitamin supplements on vascular sensitivity in the mid-trimester of human pregnancy. Clin. Exp. Hypertens. B 2(2) 247-254. 

Watanabe, Y., Manku, M.S., Jenkins, D.K., Mitchell, J., and Horrobin, D.E. (1988) The Effects of Short-Term Dietary Supplementation with Evening Primrose Oil on Fatty Acid and Prostaglandin Release from Perfused Mesenteric Vascular Beds in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats, Awtr. Res. S, 517-528. 

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