Effects of short-term oral administration of dietary marine oils in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and joint pain: A pilot study comparing seal oil and cod liver oil

Background: Very long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids have modulating effects on inflammatory mechanisms. Seat and fish oils are rich in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and possibly therefore high doses of nasoduodenally administered seat oil rapidly relieved inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-associated joint pain in two recent studies. In the present study, we compared the effects of short-term oral administration of seat oil and cod liver oil on IBD-related joint pain, leucotriene B-4 level, serum fatty acid profile and IBD activity. Methods: Thirty-eight patients with IBD-related joint pain were included in the study; 21 had Crohn's disease and 17 ulcerative colitis. Ten milliters of seat oil (n = 18) or cod liver oil (n = 20) was self-administered orally 3 times a day for 14 days before meals in a double-blind setting. Results: There were no significant differences between the two intervention groups or between Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis patients. There was a tendency toward improvement in several joint pain parameters after both seat oil and cod liver oil administration. Further, plasma leucotriene B-4 concentration, serum Sigma n-6 to Sigma n-3, and arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) to eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3) ratios were significantly reduced after administration of seat oil and cod liver oil. Conclusion: No significant differences in the two treatment groups were seen; in both groups, the changes in several joint pain parameters, leucotriene B-4 level of plasma, and serum fatty acid profile were putatively favourable. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.