December 15/Frederiksberg, Denmark/Life Science Weekly -- "Increased intake of marine long-chain n-3 PUFA (n-3 LCPUFA) may decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and reduce mortality by lowering serum TAG and blood pressure (BP). Furthermore, n-3 LCPUFA may affect novel CVD risk markers related to inflammation and vascular function," scientists writing in the British Journal of Nutrition report.

"The objective of the present study was to examine the effect of farmed trout on novel and traditional CVD risk markers in healthy men, and to evaluate whether this was affected by the aquacultural feed regime. We performed a parallel, eight-week intervention study in which sixty-eight healthy male volunteers were randomized to consume either a daily meal with 150g farmed trout raised on either marine or vegetable-based feed, or a reference meal containing 150g chicken. Twenty-four hour BP, pulse wave velocity, augmentation index, fatty acid composition of erythrocyte (RBC), and concentrations of TAG, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, glucose, insulin, C-reactive protein (CRP) and other markers of inflammation were measured at weeks zero and eight. RBC content of total n-3 LCPUFA, both EPA and DHA, was significantly higher among men consuming trout raised on marine feed compared with men consuming the vegetable-fed trout or chicken. The three intervention groups did not differ significantly with respect to any of the other outcome variables, although there were trends towards associations between the changes in RBC n-3 LCPUFA and those in BP and CRP. In the present study, we conclude that we could not confirm the fish oil-induced reduction in CVD risk markers after daily consumption of trout with high or low n-3 LCPUFA content," wrote J. Hallund and colleagues, University of Copenhagen.