THE EFFECT OF HIGH DIETARY N-3 FATTY-ACID SUPPLEMENTATION ON ANGIOTENSIN-II PRESSOR-RESPONSE IN HUMAN-PREGNANCY

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to evaluate the effects of n-3 fatty acid s upplementation on vascular reactivity as measured by the angiotensin I I sensitivity test. STUDY DESIGN: Ten subjects with uneventful pregnan cies, who were free of any chronic medical illnesses, between 24 and 3 4 weeks' gestation participated. Each subject was provided with OMEGA- 9 700 softgel capsules and instructed to take three tablets three time s daily (approximately 3.6 gm of eicosapentaenoic acid). The angiotens in ii sensitivity test was performed before and 28 days after suppleme ntation. Compliance was assessed by analysis of computerized pill bott les. Statistical analyses of the data were performed with a paired t t est for evenly distributed continuous data A sample size of eight pati ents was required to detect a difference in effective presser dose of greater than or equal to 10 ng/kg/min between the presupplement and po stsupplement results, assuming an alpha of 0.05 and a beta of 0.20 (80 % power). RESULTS: The effective presser dose before treatment (13.6 /- 6.3 ng/kg/min) (mean +/- SD) was significantly less (p = 0.001) tha n after supplementation (35.8 +/- 15.9 ng/kg/min). CONCLUSIONS: High-d ose n-3 fatty acid supplementation resulted in an enhancement of the p regnancy-acquired refractoriness to angiotensin II.