Abstract
The decrease in erythrocyte deformability was observed in renal failure and also in renal transplanted patients. In this work, we studied the effects of a daily dietary supplement of fish oil concentrate (maxEPA) against olive oil on the erythrocyte deformability in 23 renal transplanted patients. This study included 13 men and 10 women with the mean age of 32.8 +/− 12.3 who had been transplanted within 36 +/− 20 months and their renal functions had been stable for at least 3 months. The immunosuppressive treatment was stabilized and associated with cyclosporine A, azathioprine and corticosteroids. The capsules of maxEPA or olive oil (n=6/day) were given following randomised and controlled trials. After six months treatment, the index of erythrocyte deformability in two groups was evaluated according to the Dormandy and Reid modified technique. Significant improvements were found in treated patients with maxEPA. The composition of erythrocyte phospholipids membranes was determined by gas chromatography. An increase of omega 3 fatty acids was observed in the treated patients. These results showed that a supplementation with unsaturated fatty acids, was able to improve the mechanical aspects of red blood cells in renal transplanted patients treated with immunosuppressive drugs.
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