Basic nutritional investigationEffects of fish oil containing eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid on dystrophic mdx mice hearts at later stages of dystrophy

- We investigated the effects of omega-3 in heart dystrophy at the later stage of the disease.
- Omega-3 decreased fibrosis in mdx mouse hearts.
- Dystrophic heart inflammation and function were ameliorated by omega-3.
- The results support the use of omega-3 in Duchenne muscle dystrophy clinical trials.

ObjectiveIn the present study, we investigated whether omega-3 would be effective against dystrophic cardiomyopathy at later stages (13 and 17 mo) of the disease.MethodsMdx mice (8 mo old) received omega-3 oil (commercially available fish oil; FDC vitamins; omega-3) for 5 mo. Untreated-mdx mice received mineral oil. Heart and diaphragm muscle were evaluated by morphometric (fibrosis), molecular (western blot, inflammatory markers), biochemical (creatine kinase), and functional (electrocardiogram) analyses.ResultsMdx mice presented elevated plasma levels of cardiac creatine kinase (41.2 U/L in normal × 119.6 U/L in untreated-mdx mice), which were significantly decreased by omega-3 treatment. Heart fibrosis was significantly ameliorated by omega-3 treatment at 17 mo of age (untreated-mdx: 20.8% of fibrosis; omega-3-treated: 15.7% of fibrosis in right ventricle). Omega-3 improved some electrocardiogram parameters. Markers of inflammation (tumor necrosis factor alpha, matrix metalloprotease-9, and tissue inhibitor of metalloprotease 1) in mdx heart were significantly decreased by omega-3 treatment. Omega-3 increased β-dystroglycan levels in mdx heart and did not affect the levels of the profibrotic transforming growth factor beta. Omega-3 ameliorated the dystrophic diaphragm in almost all of the parameters evaluated (fibrosis, transforming growth factor beta, metalloprotease-9, and tissue inhibitor of metalloprotease 1).ConclusionsThe present study suggests that omega-3 may be useful in ameliorating dystrophic cardiomyopathy and diaphragm dystrophy in mdx mice at later stages of the disease, further supporting the use of omega-3 in DMD clinical trials.