Fish oil improves lipid metabolism and ameliorates inflammation in patients with metabolic syndrome: Impact of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Context: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasingly prevalent in Egypt, in parallel with increasing obesity. NAFLD can lead to liver inflammation, fibrosis and cirrhosis. NAFLD appears tightly linked with metabolic syndrome (MetS). Objective: Examine the impact of dietary fish oil on human patients with MetS and NAFLD. Materials and methods: One hundred and forty patients were enrolled in the current study and classified into two groups: patients with both MetS and NAFLD and patients with MetS alone. Sixty-four patients were treated with daily supplementation of 2 g of fish oil for 6 months. Markers of hyperlipidemia and oxidative stress, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdhyde (MDA), as well as proinflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), were analyzed. Results: Patients without fish oil exhibited significant increases in triglycerides (TGs), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), H2O2 and MDA that were associated with significantly elevated TNF-alpha and IL-6 compared to controls. Furthermore, patients with both NAFLD and MetS showed significant increase in H2O2, MDA, TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels compared with MetS group (p < 0.05). Treatment with fish oil reduced serum level of TG, LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), H2O2, MDA, TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels in patients and did not affect the control levels. Discussion and conclusion: Patients with NAFLD had bad lipid profile through a mechanism that involved developed redox imbalance, characterized by boosted free-radical activity and lipid peroxidation enhancing the release of proinflammatory cytokines leading to increased MetS risk and liver damage. However, daily treatment of patients with fish oil for 6 months improved lipid profile and blocked the oxidative stress and cytokines release.