THURSDAY, March 18, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Neither marine omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), nor vitamin D3 are associated with a reduction in the risk for incident atrial fibrillation (AF), according to a study published in the March 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Christine M. Albert, M.D., M.P.H., from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and colleagues examined the effects of long-term administration of supplementation with marine omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D on incident AF in an ancillary 2 x 2 factorial randomized clinical trial involving 25,119 women and men aged 50 years or older. Participants were randomly assigned to EPA-DHA and vitamin D3 (6,272 analyzed); EPA-DHA and placebo (6,270 analyzed); vitamin D3 and placebo (6,281 analyzed); or two placebos (6,296 analyzed).
The researchers found that the primary end point of incident AF occurred in 3.6 percent of the study participants during a median of 5.3 years of treatment and follow-up. Incident AF events occurred in 3.7 and 3.4 percent of participants for the EPA-DHA versus placebo comparison (hazard ratio, 1.09; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.96 to 1.24; P = 0.19). Incident AF events occurred in 3.7 and 3.4 percent of participants for the vitamin D3 versus placebo comparison (hazard ratio, 1.09; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.96 to 1.25; P = 0.19). No evidence was seen for an interaction between the two study agents (hazard ratio, 1.07; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.92 to 1.25; P = 0.39).
"The findings do not support the use of either agent for the primary prevention of incident AF," the authors write.
Pharmavite LLC provided the vitamin D/placebo for the trial, and Quest Diagnostics performed the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and plasma phospholipid omega-3 measurements. Pronova BioPharma/BASF donated omega-3 fatty acids.
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