HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sarris, G. E. Articles by Miller, D. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sarris, G. E. Articles by Miller, D. C.

The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol 97, 841-854, Copyright © 1989 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Western Thoracic Surgical Association

ARTICLES

Inhibition of accelerated cardiac allograft arteriosclerosis by fish oil

GE Sarris, RS Mitchell, ME Billingham, JR Glasson, PD Cahill and DC Miller
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Calif.

Accelerated coronary arteriosclerosis remains the most important factor limiting long-term survival of heart transplant recipients, and dietary fish oil supplementation with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids has been suggested to have a protective effect against coronary disease in epidemiologic studies and to inhibit arteriosclerosis in animal experiments. Therefore we tested the hypothesis that fish oil administration inhibits the development of allograft coronary arteriosclerosis by using a heterotopic heart transplant model. Three groups of Lewis rats (n = 10 each) received heterotopic heart transplants from Brown-Norway donors and were treated with cyclosporine intraperitoneally on a tapering schedule. Group 1 received fish oil daily by gavage (2 ml/kg/day; Emulsified Super MaxEpa, Twin Labs, Ronkonkona, N.Y.). Group 2 received an equal amount of safflower oil, as well as aspirin (1 mg/kg/day) and dipyridamole (3 mg/kg/day). Group 3 received safflower oil only. All rats were put to death 110 days later, at which time there was no statistically significant difference in graft function as assessed by palpation (scale 0 to 4, mean = 3.7 +/- 0.5 [+/- standard deviation]; analysis of variance: p = 0.72) or in microscopic grade of rejection (scale, 0 = none to 3 = severe, mean 2.1 +/- 0.6; analysis of variance: p = 0.68) between any of the groups. The coronary arteries were histologically scored for the degree of arteriosclerosis (scale, 0 = normal to 3 = occluded), and a mean grade of coronary disease was calculated for each heart. The fish oil-treated group had significantly less severe allograft coronary arteriosclerosis (analysis of variance: p = 0.005) than did groups 2 and 3 (mean grade 0.23 +/- 0.22 versus 1.04 +/- 0.75 and 0.96 +/- 0.55 (p less than 0.05, Scheffe F test), whereas groups 2 and 3 had similar degrees of coronary disease (p = no significant difference). These data demonstrate that fish oil supplementation inhibited accelerated coronary arteriosclerosis in this cyclosporine-treated heart allograft rat model, whereas antiplatelet agents in these doses were ineffective. Although the mechanism of this protective effect remains incompletely understood, it does not appear to involve enhanced immunosuppression. Fish oil and specific omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids should be further investigated as potentially useful agents to ameliorate accelerated allograft coronary arteriosclerosis in other animal species and perhaps eventually in man.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. Metzler, P. Gfeller, M. Bigaud, J. Li, G. Wieczorek, C. Heusser, P. Lake, and A. Katopodis Combinations of Anti-LFA-1, Everolimus, Anti-CD40 Ligand, and Allogeneic Bone Marrow Induce Central Transplantation Tolerance through Hemopoietic Chimerism, Including Protection from Chronic Heart Allograft Rejection J. Immunol., December 1, 2004; 173(11): 7025 - 7036. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. von Schacky n-3 Fatty acids and the prevention of coronary atherosclerosis1 Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, January 1, 2000; 71(1): 224S - 227S. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Holschermann, R. M. Bohle, H. Zeller, H. Schmidt, U. Stahl, L. Fink, H. Grimm, H. Tillmanns, and W. Haberbosch In Situ Detection of Tissue Factor within the Coronary Intima in Rat Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy Am. J. Pathol., January 1, 1999; 154(1): 211 - 220. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J.-i. Suzuki, M. Isobe, M. Aikawa, M. Kawauchi, I. Shiojima, N. Kobayashi, A. Tojo, T. Suzuki, K. Kimura, T. Nishikawa, et al. Nonmuscle and Smooth Muscle Myosin Heavy Chain Expression in Rejected Cardiac Allografts: A Study in Rat and Monkey Models Circulation, September 1, 1996; 94(5): 1118 - 1124. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				T. Hirozane, A. Matsumori, Y. Furukawa, and S. Sasayama Experimental Graft Coronary Artery Disease in a Murine Heterotopic Cardiac Transplant Model Circulation, January 15, 1995; 91(2): 386 - 392. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				L. K. Birinyi and F. W. Logerfo Intimal Hyperplasia: Evolving Concepts of Pathophysiology and Therapy Perspectives in Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy, January 1, 1989; 2(2): 97 - 111. [PDF]