Peripheral blood mononuclear cell fatty acid composition and inflammatory mediator production in adult Crohn's disease

Trebble, Timothy M., Arden, Nigel K., Wootton, Stephen A., Mullee, Mark A., Calder, Philip C., Burdge, Graham C., Fine, David R. and Stroud, Mike A. (2004) Peripheral blood mononuclear cell fatty acid composition and inflammatory mediator production in adult Crohn's disease. Clinical Nutrition, 23 (4), 647-655. (doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2003.10.017).

Abstract

Background & aims: Crohn's disease (CD) is associated with nutritional deficiencies, altered plasma concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and an anti-inflammatory response to fish oil that contains n-3 PUFA. This suggests that, in CD, immune cells may have altered n-3 PUFA composition with functional consequences. The aim of this study is to investigate n-3 and n-6 PUFA composition and synthetic function of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in the basal state.
Methods: A case control study of 52 adult CD patients and healthy, age- and sex-matched controls. Composition of PBMC and plasma phospholipids were measured by gas chromatography and production of tumour necrosis factor-?, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and interferon-? (IFN-?) by PBMC were measured by ELISA.
Results: CD was associated with higher concentrations of eicosapentaenoic acid and other n-3 PUFA, and lower arachidonic acid (AA) (n-6 PUFA) in PBMC. This was not explained by differences in dietary fat intake. Lower rates of production of PGE2 and IFN-? by PBMC were noted in quiescent and active CD, respectively, compared to controls.
Conclusions: CD is associated with a greater availability, and not a deficiency, of n-3 PUFA in PBMC, but lower concentrations of AA, and lower rates of production of PGE2 and IFN-?, compared to healthy controls.

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Contributors

Author: Philip C. Calder

Author: Graham C. Burdge

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