Effects of Fish Oil Determined By Genes in Human Body

Apr, 2021 - By WMR

As per a study looking into the relationship between biology, nutrition, and heart health, the cardiovascular benefits often associated with taking fish oil supplements may only be seen in people with a particular genotype.

The associational research indicates that dietary guidelines may be improved in the future by taking into account a person's particular genetic structure. Several large-scale meta-analyses concluded that taking the famous supplement offered little benefit, and a phase 3 clinical trial investigating a refined concentrated form of one specific fatty acid contained in fish oil was stopped after interim findings showed no benefits. Several large-scale meta-analyses have concluded that taking the famous supplement offered little benefit, and a phase 3 clinical trial investigating a refined concentrated form of one specific fatty acid contained in fish oil was stopped after interim findings showed no benefits. The goal of a recent study published in the journal PLOS Genetics was to see whether a novel gene-diet interaction could explain the apparent discrepancy in previous studies. A genome-wide association research involving over 70,000 UK Biobank participants was conducted. In the study, a particular genetic variation that affects a gene called GJB2 was found to be significantly associated with lower triglycerides in people who took fish oil supplements.

While this beneficial version, dubbed was linked to lower triglyceride levels in people who took fish oil supplements, a separate variant, dubbed AA, was linked to slightly higher triglyceride levels. The idea is that there might not be a "one-size-fits-all" dietary guideline, and that nutritional recommendations in the future may be personalized to individual subjects based on a number of physiological variables, including genetics. Personalizing and improving fish oil supplementation guidelines based on a person's specific genetic makeup will help doctors better understand nutrition and enhance human health and well-being.