Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation Provides an Additional Benefit to a Low-Dust Diet in the Management of Horses with Chronic Lower Airway Inflammatory Disease

Background Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) may benefit humans and animals with chronic inflammatory diseases. Hypothesis Omega-3 PUFA supplementation improves clinical signs, lung function, and airway inflammation in horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) and inflammatory airway disease (IAD). Animals Eight research horses and 35 client-owned horses. Methods A pilot study examined the dose of PUFA that can alter plasma PUFA composition. Then, a randomized, controlled clinical trial was performed in horses with RAO and IAD. Horses were fed a complete pelleted diet with no hay and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 daily treatments for 2 months: 30 or 60 g of the supplement or 30 g of placebo. Clinical signs, lung function, plasma PUFA composition, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cytology were evaluated. Data were expressed as median (25–75th percentiles). P