Intravenous treatment with omega-3 fatty acids in elderly hospitalised patients in intensive care due to COVID-19 seems to have positive effects on the ability of the immune system to cope with the virus, according to a study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. In the future, the study, published in the journal Clinical and Translational Medicine, could lead to a complementary, cost-effective treatment for COVID-19.
In patients with COVID-19, a result of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, 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-19, researchers believe.
Stimulated inflammation-healing molecules
The study was conducted in 2020, at an early stage of the pandemic when there were no vaccines available. The study looked at 22 elderly hospitalised COVID-19 patients, one-half of whom were randomly assigned to intravenous treatment with omega-3 fatty acids for five days and the other half to intravenous administration of corresponding volumes of saline.
The treatment effect was found by mapping inflammatory biomarkers and immunological reactions.
Source: Read Full Article