1.
The Role of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Heart Failure: A Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.
Wang, C, Xiong, B, Huang, J
Nutrients. 2016;(1)
Abstract
Many new clinical trials about the effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in heart failure (HF) patients have shown inconsistent results. Therefore, a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) was performed to determine the benefits of omega-3 PUFAs in HF patients. Articles were obtained from PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. RCTs comparing omega-3 PUFAs with placebo for HF were included. Two reviewers independently extracted the data from the selected publications. The I² statistic was used to assess heterogeneity. The pooled mean difference and associated 95% confidence intervals were calculated, and a fixed or random-effects model was used for the meta-analysis. A total of nine RCTs involving 800 patients were eligible for inclusion. Compared with patients taking placebo, HF patients who received omega-3 PUFAs experienced decreased brain natriuretic peptide levels and serum norepinephrine levels. Although the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and clinical outcomes (Tei index, peak oxygen consumption) did not improve, subgroup analysis showed that the LVEF increased in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients. Overall, omega-3 PUFA supplements might be beneficial in HF patients, especially in DCM patients, but further studies are needed to confirm these benefits.
2.
The short-term and long-term effects of tolvaptan in patients with heart failure: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Xiong, B, Huang, Y, Tan, J, Yao, Y, Wang, C, Qian, J, Rong, S, Deng, S, Cao, Y, Zou, Y, et al
Heart failure reviews. 2015;(6):633-42
Abstract
A comprehensive evaluation of the benefits of tolvaptan for the management of heart failure (HF) is lacking. The objective of this meta-analysis was to assess the short-term and long-term effects of tolvaptan in patients with HF. Articles were searched from PubMed, MEDLINE and Cochrane Library before March 31, 2015. Randomized controlled trials enrolling adult HF patients and reporting the all-cause mortality, cardiac events, body weight change or changes of serum electrolytes including sodium, potassium and creatinine were included in our meta-analysis. Ten studies covering 5574 patients met the inclusion criteria. Based on the data of meta-analysis, tolvaptan had no impact on the all-cause mortality [relative risk (RR) 0.96; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.87-1.06; P = 0.40] and incidence of cardiac events (RR 1.03; 95 % CI 0.96-1.11; P = 0.40) of HF patients. Furthermore, in comparison with control treatments, tolvaptan significantly decreased the body weight [weight mean difference (WMD), -0.87; 95 % CI -1.03 to -0.71; P < 0.001] and statistically increased serum sodium (WMD, 2.58; 95 % CI -1.83 to 3.33; P < 0.001) without any change in serum potassium (WMD, 0.01; 95 % CI -0.03 to 0.05; P = 0.577). However, serum creatinine may be increased slightly by tolvaptan (WMD, 0.05; 95 % CI 0.03-0.07; P < 0.001). This meta-analysis suggests that in HF patients, tolvaptan may not bring long-term benefits, but it effectively improves the volume overload and hyponatremia without obvious increases in serum potassium and creatinine. Hence, tolvaptan is likely to be a promising diuretic for the treatment of HF.