Dietary supplements of fish oil may be helpful to people with lupus. Copper supplements, however, make no difference, according to results of a new study.

Fish oil and copper have shown beneficial effects in rat studies of lupus, Dr. Aubrey L. Bell, of Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and colleagues explain in the Journal of Rheumatology.

To investigate any clinical effects of fish oils and/or copper, the researchers studied 52 lupus patients. The participants were randomly assigned to take various combinations of fish oil capsules and extra copper - both, one or the other, or none - for 24 weeks.

Those given fish oil supplements took three capsules a day of MaxEPA - “roughly equivalent to two oily fish-based meals per week.”

The researchers measured disease activity using a scale called the revised Systemic Lupus Activity Measure (SLAM-R).

Compared to patients given inactive placebo capsules, those taking fish oil experienced a significant decline in SLAM-R score from 6.12 to 4.69 points at the end of the trial, Bell and colleagues report.

“Supplementation with copper showed a rise in SLAM-R score of less than 1 unit after 12 weeks,” which wasn’t statistically significant and reverted to normal by the end of the study.

All patients who received an active supplement reported feeling better than those who were given a placebo, the team found.

SOURCE: Journal of Rheumatology, August 2004.