The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7497 p426
12 April 2008

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Placebo-controlled trial suggests omega-3 fatty acid does not prevent relapse in Crohn’s

Omega-3 fatty acids are ineffective for managing Crohn’s disease, an international study has shown (JAMA 2008;299:1690).

The results come from two trials involving 738 Crohn’s patients recruited from centres in Europe, Israel, Canada and the US. The omega-3 fatty acid formulation used in the trials offered no benefit over placebo in preventing relapse in Crohn’s disease.

However, a decrease in serum triglyceride concentration was observed in patients assigned to receive the omega-3 fatty acid preparation.

Lead author of the study Brian Feagan, director of Robarts Clinical Trials, University of Western Ontario, said: “A significant amount of time and money is spent annually on alternative therapies such as omega-3 fatty acids, without strong evidence that they are beneficial to patients with inflammatory bowel disease.”

He went on: “I encourage Crohn’s patients to focus on prescription medications that we know are effective for preventing relapse of disease, such as azathioprine, methotrexate, and tumour necrosis factor blockers.” He pointed out that small, single centre clinical trials often overestimate the true effects of treatment.