The Influence of Dietary Essential Fatty Acids on Rat Immunocompetent Cell Prostaglandin Synthesis and Mitogen-Induced Blastogenesis

Abstract

Sprague-Dawley rats were fed diets including 10% corn oil (CO), 10% hydrogenated coconut oil (HCO) or 10% linseed oil (LO), and immune cell populations isolated from peripheral blood and spleen were examined for alterations in prostaglandin E (PGE) synthesizing capacity and mitogen-induced blastogenesis. Culture conditions were optimized by incubating the cells in serum obtained from animals fed the same diet. The fatty acid profiles of these sera reflected the composition of the dietary fat ingested. Both the LO and HCO diet treatments resulted in significantly lower PG-synthesizing capacity by both unstimulated and phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells or splenocytes when compared to the CO group. Mitogen-induced [3H]thymidine uptake by splenocytes from rats fed the HCO diet was twofold higher than responses observed in cells from animals fed the LO or CO diets. The results suggest that mitogenesis is not influenced by the diet-induced change in immune cell PGE2 synthesizing capacity. Enhanced [3H]thymidine incorporation was associated with a greater degree of saturation of dietary fat.

Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids significantly affect laying hen lymphocyte proliferation and immunoglobulin G concentration in serum and egg yolk

“…The results of our present study support the observation of others that dietary fat source can affect lymphocyte proliferative response to polyclonal mitogen stimulation (Marshall and Johnston 1985;Kelley et al 1988Kelley et al , 1991Yaqoob et al 1994Yaqoob et al , 1995. The hens fed the SO diet had a little higher ratio of PUFA to SAFA in the splenocytes than the hens fed the other diets, with the ratios of PUFA to SAFA being similar for all other treatments.…”

A comparison of the capacity of six cold-pressed plant oils to support development of acquired immune competence in the weanling mouse: superiority of low-linoleic-acid oils

“…A small body of previous work pertains to flaxseed oil which has appeared depressive of cell-mediated immune competence relative to n-6-rich oils in some studies (Fritsche et al 1991;Jeffery et al 1996), but either was not different from n-6-rich oils in this respect (Marshall & Johnston, 1985) or was stimulatory (Kelley et al 1988;Fritsche & Johnston, 1990) in other studies. The inconsistencies among studies do not appear related to the indices used to assess immune competence, but may relate to oil quality.…”

Development and characterization of essential fatty acid deficiency in human endothelial cells in culture.

“…This hypothesis is supported by a number of observations most importantly that development of decreased endogenous generation of leukotrienes, prostaglandins, and platelet-activating factor coincide with impairment of cellular responsiveness (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19). Moreover, addition of 18:2co6, 20:4X6, or lipoxygenase products to EFAD cells may restore their responsiveness, including production of eicosanoids (18,19).…”