Analysis of plasma samples from Swedish COPD study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Analysis of fatty acids in plasma samples from study in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) conducted in Sweden
IRAS ID
205165
Contact name
Philip C Calder
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 0 months, 29 days
Research summary
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease of the lungs. People with COPD find it hard to breathe and they can have problems with even simple physical tasks because of fatigue and loss of body muscle. Inflammation of the airways is a contributor to the lung disease. Omega-3 fats are known to decrease inflammation. Therefore omega-3 fats might be able to help people with COPD. There has not been much research in this area, although several studies do support this idea. Swedish researchers have conducted a randomised controlled trial of a fruit drink fortified with omega-3 fats (no omega-3 fats in the control drink) in patients with COPD. There were a total of 50 patients involved in the study, half in the control group and half in the omega-3 group. Each group consumed two cartons of the respective drink daily for 12 weeks. Blood was sampled at study entry and after 12 weeks. The Swedish researchers measured many relevant clinical outcomes in the patients. These included body composition, lung function, muscle function, inflammation, quality of life and clinical exacerbations. We plan to measure the omega-3 fat content of the blood plasma. This will tell us whether patients in the omega-3 group were taking their drink and also will allow the Swedish researchers to better understand the clinical findings.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/NW/0323
Date of REC Opinion
19 Apr 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion