According to a study from Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet, intravenous treatment with omega-3 fatty acids in elderly hospitalised patients in intensive care due to COVID-19 appears to have positive effects on the immune system’s ability to cope with the virus. The study, which was published in the journal Clinical and Translational Medicine, may lead to a complementary, cost-effective treatment for COVID-19 in the future.
The immune system and the body’s activation of white blood cells are over-activated in COVID-19 patients as a result of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It can cause a systemic inflammatory storm, which worsens the disease and can lead to complications like sepsis and heart failure.
Researchers from Karolinska Institutet, among others, have now demonstrated that omega-3 fatty acids can stimulate active healing of inflammation while not suppressing the immune response. Researchers believe that by accelerating inflammation healing without compromising the body’s immune system, it may be possible to avoid the most serious complications of COVID-19.
The study was carried out in 2020, at an early stage of the pandemic when no vaccines were available. The study included 22 elderly COVID-19 patients, half of whom were randomly assigned to receive intravenous omega-3 fatty acid treatment for five days and the other half to receive corresponding volumes of saline.
