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. 2015 Dec;4(3):163-8.
doi: 10.15420/aer.2015.4.3.163. Epub 2015 Dec 1.

Upstream Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation with n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: Myth or Reality?

Francesco Orso  1 , Gianna Fabbri  2 , Aldo Pietro Maggioni  2
Affiliations

Upstream Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation with n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: Myth or Reality?

Francesco Orso et al. Arrhythm Electrophysiol Rev. 2015 Dec.

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia in adults and is associated with an increased risk of fatal and non-fatal events. Antiarrhythmic drugs provide limited protection against AF recurrence and have a poor safety profile. Several mechanisms have been proven to be involved in AF, e.g. inflammation, oxidative stress, fibrosis and ischaemia. Prevention of AF with interventions that target these mechanisms has emerged as a result of experimental studies suggesting the use of upstream therapies. Long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) have multiple effects on cardiac electrophysiology, and epidemiological studies on fish oil suggest a possible use of n-3 PUFA in AF prevention. Several randomised clinical trials have been designed to evaluate the efficacy of n-3 PUFA in preventing AF. In this review, we report the conflicting results of these trials in two different clinical settings: recurrence in patients with history of AF and development of post-operative AF in patient undergoing cardiac surgery.

Keywords: Arrhythmias; atrial fibrillation; n-3 PUFA; post-operative atrial fibrillation; prevention.

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Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:. Prevalence of Atrial Fibrillation at Study Entry by Circulating Levels of n-3 PUFA in 1,203 patients (GISSI-HF Trial)[25]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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