Are there clinical benefits to fish oil as an adjuvant drug in lupus nephritis?
Fish oil may be a potential adjuvant drug option in the treatment of patients with lupus nephritis (LN), according to a study that investigated its effect as an adjunct to low-dose cyclophosphamide in patients with proliferative.
In this study, 237 patients were randomized to cyclophosphamide plus placebo or cyclophosphamide plus fish oil.
The number of patients who achieved complete remission in the fish oil group was significantly higher than the placebo group (46.9% vs 32.6%), and the number of patients achieving no response in the fish oil group was significantly lower than the placebo groups (8.3% vs 23.2%).
In addition, the following measurements more significantly improved in the fish oil group:
-Hematuria
-Urine protein-creatinine ratio
-Estimated glomerular filtration rate
-Renal SLE disease activity index
Patients in the fish oil group also experienced fewer infections and urinary tract infections than patients in the placebo group.
Reference
Zhang C, Ge C, Wang J, et al. Fish oil enhanced the efficacy of low-dose cyclophosphamide regimen for proliferative lupus nephritis: a randomized controlled double-blind trial. Food Nutr Res. 2021;65. doi: 10.29219/fnr.v65.7842. PMID: 34393696; PMCID: PMC8344404.
