Effect of a moderate fish intake on haemostatic parameters in healthy males

This article describes the results of a dietary intervention study performed in three different centers. In the study the effect of a diet enriched with fish on the coagulation tendency of blood was investigated. Two groups of 40 volunteers were given a dietary supplement consisting of 135 g of canned mackerel or meat paste (control) for a 6 weeks period. Compliance, monitored by measuring the urinary excretion of lithium, added to the supplements, was about 80%. Before, during and at the end of the experimental period a number of hemostatic parameters, reflecting the coagulation tendency of blood and the procoagulant activity of monocytes, were measured. The fish supplement did not cause a significant effect on the prothrombin time and on the levels of factor VII, activated factor VII, antithrombin III, von Willebrand factor, fibrinogen, plasminogen and alpha 2-antiplasmin. A slight but transient prolongation in the activated partial thromboplastin time was observed as well as a significant increase in the factor X level, which became more pronounced with prolongation of the experimental period; no activated factor X was found. A tendency towards a stimulation of monocyte procoagulant activity was noticed.