Lipid extract from hard-shelled mussel (Mytilus coruscus) improves clinical conditions of patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized controlled trial

• Published in: Nutrients 2015-01, Vol.7 (1), p.625-645
• Main Authors: Fu, Yuanqing, Li, Guipu, Zhang, Xinhua, Xing, Gengyan, Hu, Xiaojie, Yang, Lifeng, Li, Duo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Animals; anti-inflammation; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - administration & dosage; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - drug therapy; Cartilage; clinical conditions; Clinical trials; Cytokines; Dietary Fats - administration & dosage; Dinoprostone - blood; Double-Blind Method; Female; hard-shelled mussel; Humans; Inflammation; Interleukin-10 - blood; Interleukin-1beta - blood; Interleukin-6 - blood; Kidney - drug effects; Kidney - metabolism; Laboratories; lipid extract; Lipids; Liver - drug effects; Liver - metabolism; Male; Middle Aged; Mollusks; Mytilus - chemistry; Pathogenesis; Rheumatoid arthritis; Rheumatology; Seafood; TNF inhibitors; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - blood; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu7010625

Studies have suggested a lipid extract from hard-shelled mussel (Mytilus coruscus) (HMLE) possessed strong anti-inflammatory activity in arthritis model of rats. This study investigated whether HMLE could improve clinical conditions of rheumatoid arthritis patients. Fifty rheumatoid arthritis patients (28-75 years) were randomly assigned to receive HMLE capsules or receive placebo capsules for 6 months. Forty-two subjects and 50 subjects were included in per-protocol and intention-to-treat analysis, respectively. Significant differences in changes on disease activity score (DAS28) and clinical disease activity index (CDAI) after 6-month intervention (p < 0.01) were observed in both analyses with more evident efficacy shown in per-protocol population (∆DAS28 = 0.47; ∆CDAI = 4.17), which favored the benefits of the HMLE group. TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor α), interleukin (IL)-1β and PGE2 (prostaglandin E2) but not IL-6, were significantly decreased in both groups, and the decrements were much larger in the HMLE group for TNF-α and PGE2 after 6 months from baseline (p < 0.05). IL-10 was significantly increased in both groups and the change was much more evident in the HMLE group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, HMLE exhibited benefits for the clinical conditions of rheumatoid patients in relation to improvement in the balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory factors, which indicated its potential to serve as adjunctive treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02173587).