Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Fish oil supplements may help reduce gingivitis in dogs
By Lourenço, Ana L et al.·Published in Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition·2018·University of Trá·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: The effect of dietary corn oil and fish oil supplementation in dogs with naturally occurring gingivitis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of adult dogs with gingivitis (inflammation of the gums) were given either fish oil or corn oil for five months to see if the fish oil could help slow down their gum disease. While the dogs on fish oil had higher levels of certain beneficial omega-3 fatty acids in their blood, there was no significant difference in the health of their gums or the amount of plaque and tartar compared to those on corn oil. Ultimately, the study found that adding fish oil to their diet did not help improve their gum health or slow the progression of periodontal disease.
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Abstract
The aim of this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study was to evaluate if downregulation of the inflammatory response due to ingestion of high levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) can slow down gingivitis development, and thus delay the progression of periodontal disease (PD) in dogs. To this aim, 44 client-owned adult dogs (>1 and <8 years old) with naturally occurring PD (stages 1 and 2) were submitted to a plaque, gingivitis and calculus scoring followed by a dental cleaning procedure and collection of blood samples. The animals were then fed a canine adult maintenance diet, supplemented with either corn oil (0.00 g EPA and 0.00 g DHA) or fish oil (1.53 g EPA and 0.86 g DHA, both per 1,000 kcal ME) over the following 5 months. At the end of this period, the PD scoring and the blood sampling were repeated. The animals consuming fish oil had higher plasma levels of the longer chain (C ≥ 20) omega 3 fatty acids (p < 0.01) and similar plasma levels of alpha-linolenic acid (p = 0.53), omega 6 fatty acids (p > 0.63) and C reactive protein (p = 0.28) then the ones consuming corn oil. There were no differences between fish oil and corn oil diet supplementation on plaque (18.2 vs. 17.8, p = 0.78), calculus (10.1 vs. 11.5, p = 0.18) or gingivitis (19.3 vs. 19.0, p = 0.77) indexes. The authors conclude that supplementation with EPA + DHA does not slow down progression of PD in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29908038/