EFFECT OF OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS TREATMENT ON INSULIN RESISTANCE

Abstract

Background and aims: Insulin resistance (IR) is a common pathogenic factor of several diseases: diabetes mellitus, the metabolic syndrome, arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis, dyslipidemia, etc. There are many therapeutic factors involved in decreasing IR. Among them we mention metformin, pioglitazone, physical activity, weight loss, diet, etc. In the last decade, there are more observations of the influence of poly- unsaturated fatty acids on IR. The most powerful seem to be omega-3 fatty acids. In our study, we wanted to asses if the administration of omega-3 fatty acids is involved in modifying IR. Materials and methods: We evaluated 126 diabetic patients with IR from January 2011 until July 2014. The study was open-label and non-randomized. For the determination of IR we used the HOMA-IR method. Results: For both males and females there was a regression of HOMA-IR during the 4 weeks of treatment with omega-3 and also after 2 weeks after stopping the administration of these fatty acids. The decrease of HOMA-IR was statistically significant (p<0.05). The statistic result observed in the next 2 weeks after stopping administration of omega-3 was also significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the omega-3 fatty acids can reduce IR. The greater the IR, the smaller the results for the same dose of omega-3. The effect of these fatty acids on IR continues after the end of treatment.