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n-3 fatty acids, inflammation, and immunity - relevance to postsurgical and critically ill patients

n-3 fatty acids, inflammation, and immunity - relevance to postsurgical and critically ill patients
n-3 fatty acids, inflammation, and immunity - relevance to postsurgical and critically ill patients
Excessive or inappropriate inflammation and immunosuppressionare components of the response to surgery, trauma, injury, and infection in some individuals and these can lead, progressively, to sepsis and septic shock. The hyperinflammation is characterized by the production of inflammatory cytokines, arachidonic acid-derived eicosanoids, and other inflammatory mediators, while the immunosuppression is characterized by impairment of antigen presentation and of T helper cell type-1 responses. Long-chain n-3 FA from fish oil decrease the production of inflammatory cytokines and eicosanoids. They act both directly (by replacing arachidonic acid as an eicosanoid substrate and by inhibiting arachidonic acid metabolism) and indirectly (by altering the expression of inflammatory genes through effects on transcription factor activation). Thus, long-chain n-3 FA are potentially useful anti-inflammatory agents and may be of benefit in patients at risk of developing sepsis. As such, an emerging application of n-3 FA is in surgical or critically ill patients where they may beadded to parenteral or enteral formulas. Parenteral or enteral nutrition including n-3 FA appears to preserve immune function better than standard formulas and appears to partly prevent some aspects of the inflammatory response. Studies to date are suggestive of clinical benefits from these approaches, especially in postsurgical patients.
0024-4201
1147-1161
Calder, P.C.
1797e54f-378e-4dcb-80a4-3e30018f07a6
Calder, P.C.
1797e54f-378e-4dcb-80a4-3e30018f07a6

Calder, P.C. (2004) n-3 fatty acids, inflammation, and immunity - relevance to postsurgical and critically ill patients. Lipids, 39 (12), 1147-1161.

Record type: Review

Abstract

Excessive or inappropriate inflammation and immunosuppressionare components of the response to surgery, trauma, injury, and infection in some individuals and these can lead, progressively, to sepsis and septic shock. The hyperinflammation is characterized by the production of inflammatory cytokines, arachidonic acid-derived eicosanoids, and other inflammatory mediators, while the immunosuppression is characterized by impairment of antigen presentation and of T helper cell type-1 responses. Long-chain n-3 FA from fish oil decrease the production of inflammatory cytokines and eicosanoids. They act both directly (by replacing arachidonic acid as an eicosanoid substrate and by inhibiting arachidonic acid metabolism) and indirectly (by altering the expression of inflammatory genes through effects on transcription factor activation). Thus, long-chain n-3 FA are potentially useful anti-inflammatory agents and may be of benefit in patients at risk of developing sepsis. As such, an emerging application of n-3 FA is in surgical or critically ill patients where they may beadded to parenteral or enteral formulas. Parenteral or enteral nutrition including n-3 FA appears to preserve immune function better than standard formulas and appears to partly prevent some aspects of the inflammatory response. Studies to date are suggestive of clinical benefits from these approaches, especially in postsurgical patients.

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More information

Published date: 2004
Additional Information: Paper no. L9565

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 25339
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/25339
ISSN: 0024-4201
PURE UUID: b6bcf894-8c13-4bf8-81fc-9c7ec28f4b0b
ORCID for P.C. Calder: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6038-710X

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 06 Apr 2006
Last modified: 31 May 2023 01:33

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