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Fish oil in knee osteoarthritis: a randomised clinical trial of low dose versus high dose

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 12:55 authored by Hill, CL, March, LM, Dawn AitkenDawn Aitken, Lester, SE, Battersby, R, Kristen HynesKristen Hynes, Fedorova, T, Proudman, SM, James, M, Cleland, LG, Graeme JonesGraeme Jones

Objectives: To determine whether high-dose fish oil is superior to low-dose supplementation for symptomatic and structural outcomes in knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: A randomised, double-blind, multicentre trial enrolled 202 patients with knee OA and regular knee pain. They were randomised 1:1 to high-dose fish oil (4.5 g omega-3 fatty acids) 15 mL/day or (2) low-dose fish oil (blend of fish oil and sunola oil; ratio of 1:9, 0.45 g omega-3 fatty acids) 15 mL/day. The primary endpoints were Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) pain score at 3, 6, 12 and 24 months, and change in cartilage volume at 24 months. Secondary outcomes included WOMAC function, quality of life, analgesic and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use and bone marrow lesion score.

Results: Although there was improvement in both groups, the low-dose fish oil group had greater improvement in WOMAC pain and function scores at 2 years compared with the high-dose group, whereas between-group differences at 1 year did not reach statistical significance. There was no difference between the two groups in cartilage volume loss at 2 years. For other secondary endpoints, there was no difference between the two groups at 2 years.

Conclusions: In people with symptomatic knee OA, there was no additional benefit of a high-dose fish oil compared with low-dose fish oil. The combination comparator oil appeared to have better efficacy in reducing pain at 2 years, suggesting that this requires further investigation.

History

Publication title

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases

Volume

75

Pagination

23-29

ISSN

1468-2060

Department/School

Menzies Institute for Medical Research

Publisher

B M J Group

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

Copyright 2015 The Authors

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Clinical health not elsewhere classified

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