Unrefined Salmon Oil as Dietary Supplement in Adult Asthmatics

NCT ID: NCT05137132

Last Updated: 2025-09-26

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 70 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-04-01
• Study Completion Date: 2024-12-09

Brief Summary

Research has over decades showed that marine food carries nutritional characteristics that promote human health. As seen in epidemiological studies and based on in vitro and in vivo studies, it is hypothesized that unrefined salmon oil as dietary supplement have anti-inflammatory effect. However, there is sufficient preliminary data to indicate bioactive compounds effect for clinical use, and further clinical trials investigating effect are needed. This trial will investigate the potential anti-inflammatory effect in adults diagnosed with asthma.

Detailed Description

This study is a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial investigating unrefined salmon oil, CARDIO®, additional to standard care for asthmatics. The investigational product is an unrefined salmon oil based soft-gel formulation containing 21 different fatty acids (more than 99.1%), lipopeptides (less than 0.9%), antioxidants and other micro metabolites. Research has shown that marine foods carry nutritional characteristics that promote human health, particularly the high intake of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA), eicosapentaeonic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Cell culture and mice studies have reported a reduction in leucocytes infiltration of the lungs and decreased pro-inflammatory cytokines with the consumption of the n-3 PUFAs, EPA and DHA. However, clinical trials in humans diagnosed with asthma, have shown varied results investigating n-3 PUFA supplementation. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether CARDIO® has an anti-inflammatory effect preventing exacerbation, in enhanced asthma control and quality of life. Data will be collected by pulmonary function tests (PEF, spirometry and FeNO), blood sample, nutritional log, quality of life questionnaires (ACQ-5), and blood and stool collected for research biobanking. Study intervention period will be 20 weeks, plus 4 weeks post-intervention follow-up, foremost of safety reasons.

As this study is explorative in nature, a sample size which balance the need of statistical power and resource constraints is chosen. The available resources, predetermine those 80 participants, 40 in each arm, can be recruited. We include a margin of error due to drop-out rate of about 20% in total (8 subjects per group), we thus estimate the study requires a recalculated number of 100 participants (50 in each arm). With this number of participants, the study is able to detect a decrease in rate of exacerbations of 40% (i.e. a rate ratio of 0.6), under the assumptions of a significance level of 5%, a power of 80% and an individual event rate of 0.01 pr day in the control group

Conditions

Asthma

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: TRIPLE

Study Groups

Best Standard of Care + CARDIO®

6 gram/day ( 1000 mg per capsule) of unrefined salmon oil, duration of 20 weeks. CARDIO® capsule contains 1000 mg of full spectrum of omega fatty acids, including 21 different fatty acids, with a minimum of 270 mg polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and10 mg lipopeptides

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

CARDIO®

Intervention Type: DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

CARDIO® is manufactured according to Good Manufacturing Practices for food facilities complying with the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles.

The product is intended for use in manufacturing of human food products and human consumption, including food supplements, and have been Generally Recognized as Safe (self-affirmed GRAS). The fresh unrefined salmon oil is produced by Hofseth Biocare ASA

Best Standard of Care + Placebo

6 gram/day (1000 mg per capsule) of natural oil, duration of 20 weeks. The placebo is a medium-chain triglyceride (MCT), with triglyceride from natural fatty acid, mainly caprylic- and capric acid.

Group Type: PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Placebo

Intervention Type: DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

MCT oil

Interventions

CARDIO®

CARDIO® is manufactured according to Good Manufacturing Practices for food facilities complying with the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles.

The product is intended for use in manufacturing of human food products and human consumption, including food supplements, and have been Generally Recognized as Safe (self-affirmed GRAS). The fresh unrefined salmon oil is produced by Hofseth Biocare ASA

Intervention Type: DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Placebo

MCT oil

Intervention Type: DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Asthma Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) treatment grade 2-4 (only standard care of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA), no additional treatment except as-needed short--acting beta2-agonist (SABA)
• ACQ-5 score ≥0.75
• Diagnosed with asthma by medical doctor (general practitioner or pulmonary spesialist)
• Eosinophils ≥ 150 µL
• Speaks fluent Norwegian.
• For female in fertile age, use of contraception or other indication for non-pregnancy.
• Signed informed consent and expected cooperation of the participants for the treatment and follow up must be obtained and documented according to ICH GCP, and national/local regulations.

Exclusion Criteria

• Treatment with oral corticosteroid <1 month prior to baseline visit
• Treatment with any biological medication, <6 months prior to baseline visit
• Oral/intravenous antibiotics < 3 months prior to baseline visit
• Consumption of fish oil (liquid, capsule, powder) as an oral supplement < 1-month prior baseline visit
• Known fish or shellfish allergy
• Pregnancy and breast feeding
• Participant in a confounding study
• Inflammatory bowel disease (Chron, ulcerative colitis (UC), microscopic colitis), celiac disease, or any chronic disease that possibly affects intestinal absorption and morbidity
• In case of severe cognitive impairment where the participants are not able to fulfill the study
• Not willing to participate
• Any reason why, in the opinion of the investigator, the participant cannot participate.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 75 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Trondheim University Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Møre og Romsdal Hospital Trust

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Hofseth Biocare ASA

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Dag Arne L Hoff, MDAssoc.prof

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

More and Romsdal Hospital Trust

Locations

Hofseth Biocare ASA

Ålesund, More and Romsdal, Norway

Countries

Norway

Other Identifiers

257990

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

CARDIO-ASTH

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id