| Candidate ID: | R1363 |
| Source ID: | DB11321 |
| Source Type: | nutraceutical; vet_approved |
| Compound Type: |
small molecule
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| Compound Name: |
Cod liver oil
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| Synonyms: |
Cod liver oil; Cod-liver oil; Gadus morhua liver oil; Oils, cod liver; Oleum morrhuae
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| Molecular Formula: |
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| SMILES: |
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| DrugBank Description: |
Cod liver oil is extracted from the liver of cod fish and mainly consists of omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Also being a rich source of vitamin A and D, cod liver oil can be taken orally as daily supplements. It is used as an adjunct treatment and preventative therapy of rickets, osteomalacia and osteoporosis while meeting the consumption criteria.
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| CAS Number: |
8001-69-2
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| Molecular Weight: |
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| DrugBank Indication: |
Cod liver oil is predominantly manufactured, marketed, and used by the population at large as a general nutraceutical dietary supplement .
Historically, cod liver oil was often given to children because the vitamin d content in the oil had been shown to prevent or treat vitamin D deficiency and condition of rickets associated with it . Over time, this common use in children growing up may have conferred upon cod liver oil its identity as a healthy and useful all-purpose dietary supplement.
However, since cod liver oil is a composite of several other nutritional compounds including the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) as well as vitamin A and vitamin D , the presence in varying amounts of all of these compounds at once makes it difficult to recommend or use cod liver oil as an appropriate supplement to confer any one particular health effect or for any one particular nutritional deficiency.
Regardless, because it does contain a combination of a number of important and healthy nutritional compounds, cod liver oil has sometimes been recommended in the literature for conferring the health effects of some of these compounds, such as the potential use of cod liver oil supplements in post-heart attack patients for secondary prophylaxis associated with the use of omega-3 fatty acids .
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| DrugBank Pharmacology: |
As cod liver oil is a composite of several other nutritional compounds including the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) as well as vitamin A and vitamin D , the presence in varying amounts of all of these compounds at once makes it difficult to recommend or use cod liver oil as an appropriate supplement to confer any one particular health effect or for any one particular nutritional deficiency.
For example, one tablespoon of cod liver oil contains approximately 4,080 ug of retinol (vitamin A) and 34 ug (1,360 IU) of vitamin D . Since the general dietary reference intake of vitamin A is only 900 ug per day for adult men, 700 ug per day for women, and 3000 ug per day as the tolerable upper intake level, the regular intake of cod liver oil as a regular supplement can result in harmful levels of vitamin A accumulating in the liver and sufficient to cause hypervitaminosis A , which is associated with various symptoms such as blurred vision, changes in consciousness, skin and hair changes, liver damage, among many others.
Moreover, while cod liver oil only contains a certain percentage of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA per amount of the oil , separate fish oils supplement products that exclusively consist of only EPA and DHA are available in a great variety of different percentage content formulations, even including prescription strength formulations should certain patients need such a level of therapy. Furthermore, such exclusive omega-3 fatty acid supplement products do not contain any vitamin A or D either, which allows patients to use the supplements without any concern about affecting their vitamin A or D levels or exposing themselves to the unnecessary excess intake of vitamins.
Subsequently, although cod liver oil contains a combination of healthy dietary supplements like EPA, DHA, vitamin A, and vitamin D, the presence in varying amounts of all of these compounds all at once makes it difficult to effectively titrate for appropriate amounts of intake for all the compounds involved when using cod liver oil as a general supplement, often resulting in either an excess or insufficient amount of one or more the aforementioned compounds.
Nevertheless, because cod liver oil does consist of the component compounds of EPA, DHA, vitamin A, and vitamin D, further information about the pharmacodynamics of these cod liver oil components can be found by searching for fish oil, vitamin A, and vitamin D on DrugBank.
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| DrugBank MoA: |
As cod liver oil consists of the component compounds of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), vitamin A, and vitamin D further information about the mechanisms of action of these cod liver oil components can be found by searching for fish oil, vitamin A, and vitamin D on DrugBank.
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| Targets: |
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| Inclusion Criteria: |
Indication associated
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