VetMedOmega-3 supplementation in equine asthma — POSSIBLE
In horses with equine asthma managed with low-dust forage, does an omega-3 supplement vs placebo improve lung function and airway inflammation?
Shelf #366 · gate-verified and approved by the developer
POSSIBLE: In a randomized, controlled clinical trial in horses with recurrent airway obstruction and inflammatory airway disease, all fed a complete pelleted low-dust diet with no hay for 2 months, the omega-3 PUFA group had greater improvement than placebo in clinical signs (cough score relative improvement 60% vs 33%), lung function (respiratory effort relative decrease 48% vs 27%), and bronchoalveolar lavage neutrophils (decreased from 23% to 9% on PUFA, while increasing from 11% to 17% on placebo; P < .05 for the comparisons) (Nogradi 2015). Clinical improvement occurred in all horses — the low-dust diet itself did much of the work — the trial was small, and its record does not establish blinding, which is what holds this shelf at POSSIBLE. Drafted Nov 10, 2026 (VetMed build, topic #366); all figures from abstracts fetched and verified at drafting.
Nogradi 2015: omega-3 PUFA added benefit over placebo on top of a low-dust diet — cough +60% vs +33%, BALF neutrophils 23%→9% vs 11%→17%
Randomized, controlled clinical trial
Who: Horses: 35 client-owned horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) and inflammatory airway disease in the randomized, controlled clinical trial (preceded by a pilot study in 8 research horses on PUFA dose and plasma composition); all clinical-trial horses were fed a complete pelleted diet with no hay and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 daily treatments for 2 months: 30 g or 60 g of the omega-3 supplement, or 30 g of placebo. Clinical signs, lung function, plasma PUFA composition and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cytology were evaluated.
Result: PUFA supplementation increased plasma docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), peaking at 4 weeks. Clinical improvement was noted in all horses in the clinical trial, but the group that received PUFA had greater improvement in clinical signs (cough score improved 60%), lung function (respiratory effort decreased 48%), and BALF (neutrophils decreased from 23 to 9%) when compared to placebo (cough score improved 33%, respiratory effort decreased 27%, BALF neutrophils increased from 11 to 17%; P < .05). The supplement contained 1.5-3 g DHA at the doses used, given for 2 months.
Watch out: The record establishes randomisation ('randomly assigned', publication type Randomized Controlled Trial) but does not state blinding in its abstract, indexing or publication types, so this card does not call the trial blinded. All groups improved on the low-dust pelleted diet — the supplement's claim is the additional benefit over placebo, and the percentage improvements are relative changes in scores/effort, carded with the placebo group's changes alongside.
Nogradi N, Couëtil LL, Messick J et al. 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. J Vet Intern Med. 2015 Jan;29(1):299-306. PMID: 25307169. Registry ID: none in the record. MeSH: Animal Feed · Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena · Animals · Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid · Chronic Disease · Dietary Supplements · Dose-Response Relationship, Drug · Dust · Fatty Acids, Omega-3 · Female · Horse Diseases · Horses · Inflammation · Lung Diseases, Obstructive · Male · Pilot Projects
Synthesis: an additional benefit on top of environmental control, from one small randomised trial
Synthesis
Who: Synthesis of the card above: Nogradi 2015 (randomized controlled clinical trial, 35 client-owned horses with RAO/IAD, plus an 8-horse pilot). Single-trial shelf, stated on its face.
Result: Omega-3 PUFA supplying 1.5-3 g DHA daily for 2 months improved cough score, respiratory effort and BALF neutrophilia more than placebo when both were added to a low-dust diet — but the diet alone improved every group, the sample is small, and blinding is not established by the record. POSSIBLE, as an adjunct to — never a substitute for — environmental control.
Watch out: RAO and IAD horses were studied together; results may differ by phenotype and severity, and no hard outcome (exacerbation rate, time to relapse) was measured.
Synthesis of Nogradi N et al. PMID: 25307169. Registry ID as on the individual card.
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