Duodenal administered seal oil for patients with subjective food hypersensitivity: an explorative open pilot study

Kine Gregersen^1,2, Ragna A Lind¹, Jørgen Valeur^1,3, Tormod Bjørkkjær², Arnold Berstad^1,3, Gülen Arslan Lied^1,3
1Institute of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; ²National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES), Bergen, Norway; ³Section for Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway

Abstract: Short-term duodenal administration of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-rich seal oil may improve gastrointestinal complaints in patients with subjective food hypersensitivity, as well as joint pain in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of the present explorative pilot study was to investigate whether 10-day open treatment with seal oil, 10 mL self-administrated via a nasoduodenal tube 3 times daily, could also benefit nongastrointestinal complaints and quality of life (QoL) in patients with subjective food hypersensitivity. Twenty-six patients with subjective food hypersensitivity, of whom 25 had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), were included in the present study. Before and after treatment and 1 month posttreatment, patients filled in the Ulcer Esophagitis Subjective Symptoms Scale (UESS) and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) for gastrointestinal symptoms and subjective health complaints (SHC) inventory for nongastrointestinal symptoms in addition to short form of the Nepean dyspepsia index (SF-NDI) for evaluation of QoL. Compared with baseline, gastrointestinal, as well as nongastrointestinal, complaints and QoL improved significantly, both at end of treatment and 1 month posttreatment. The consistent improvements following seal oil administration warrant further placebo-controlled trials for confirmation of effect.

Keywords: food hypersensitivity, irritable bowel syndrome, subjective health complaints, quality of life, seal oil, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids