Eicosapentaenoic acid for prevention of major coronary events.

Mitsohiro Yokohama and colleagues 1 noted that non-fatal coronary events, but not cardiac deaths, were lower in hypercholesterolaemic Japanese patients who were given 1800 mg per day of the omega 3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) than in controls. At first, these results seem to contrast with other published data which indicate that omega 3 fatty acid preparations, including the end product of this metabolic series, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), also reduce cardiac death. 2 However, these findings are expected, given the chemistry and metabolism of EPA versus DHA.