Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-xtgtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T04:10:35.345Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Background diet influences the anti-inflammatory effect of α-linolenic acid in dyslipidaemic subjects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

George K. Paschos ,
Loukianos S. Rallidis ,
Georgios K. Liakos ,
Demosthenes Panagiotakos ,
George Anastasiadis ,
Vasilios Votteas  and
Antonis Zampelas
George K. Paschos
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, 70 El Venizelou Street, Athens 17671, Greece
Loukianos S. Rallidis
Affiliation:
Second Department of Cardiology, General Hospital of Nikea, Piraeus, Greece
Georgios K. Liakos
Affiliation:
Biochemistry Laboratory, General Hospital of Nikea, Piraeus, Greece
Demosthenes Panagiotakos
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, 70 El Venizelou Street, Athens 17671, Greece
George Anastasiadis
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiology, Laiko Hospital, Athens, Greece
Vasilios Votteas
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiology, Laiko Hospital, Athens, Greece
Antonis Zampelas*
Affiliation:
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, 70 El Venizelou Street, Athens 17671, Greece
*
*Corresponding author: Dr Antonis Zampelas, fax +30 210 9549141, email azampelas@hua.gr
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Long-chain n-3 PUFA from fish oils are known to have anti-inflammatory effects. We evaluated the effect of α-linolenic acid (ALA), precursor of n-3 fatty acids, on serum inflammatory markers and soluble cellular adhesion molecules (sCAM) of dyslipidaemic males, relative to their background diet. Participants were assigned to two groups, based upon food intake patterns: (a) twenty-one dyslipidaemic subjects who habitually ate a Mediterranean–Cretan-type diet; (b) nineteen dyslipidaemic subjects who normally ate a Westernised Greek diet. All were supplemented with 8·1 g ALA/d for 12 weeks. We determined serum amyloid A (SAA), C-reactive protein (CRP), macrophage colony-stimulating factor (MCSF), IL-6, soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and soluble E-selectin concentrations at the beginning and the end of the ALA supplementation period. Serum baseline concentrations of inflammatory markers and sCAM were similar across the diet groups. Type of diet had a significant impact on the response of inflammatory markers to ALA supplementation. The Westernised Greek diet group showed a reduction in SAA (P<0·001), CRP (P=0·002), MCSF (P=0·005) and IL-6 (P=0·04) concentrations. The Mediterranean–Cretan-type background diet group showed a significant reduction only in MCSF concentrations (P=0·003). The sVCAM-1 concentrations were significantly reduced in both the Westernised Greek diet group (P=0·001) and the Mediterranean–Cretan-type diet group (P<0·001). The present study demonstrated that ALA supplementation lowered the serum concentrations of inflammatory markers more profoundly when the background diet was rich in saturated fatty acids and poor in MUFA.

Keywords

α-Linolenic acidMediterranean dietInflammatory markersCellular adhesion molecules
Type
Review Article
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 92 , Issue 4 , October 2004 , pp. 649 - 655
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2004

References

Abe, Y, El-Masri, B, Kimball, KT, Pownall, H, Reilly, CF, Osmundsen, K, Smith, CW & Ballantyne, CM (1998) Soluble cell adhesion molecules in hypertriglyceridemia and potential significance on monocyte adhesion. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 18, 723–731.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ascherio, A, Rimm, EB, Stampfer, MJ, Giovannucci, EL & Willett, WC (1995) Dietary intake of marine n-3 fatty acids, fish intake, and the risk of coronary disease among men. N Engl J Med 332, 977–982.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blok, WL, Deslypere, JP, Demacker, PN, van der Ven-Jongekrijg, J, Hectors, MP, van der Meer, JW, & Katan, MB (1997) Pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in healthy volunteers fed various doses of fish oil for 1 year. Eur J Clin Invest 27, 1003–1008.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calder, PC (2001) Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, inflammation and immunity. World Rev Nutr Diet 88, 109–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caughey, GE, Mantzioris, E, Gibson, RA, Cleland, LG & James, MJ (1996) The effect on human tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin 1 beta production of diets enriched in n-3 fatty acids from vegetable oil or fish oil. Am J Clin Nutr 63, 116–122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clinton, SK, Underwood, R, Hayes, L, Sherman, ML, Kufe, DW & Libby, P (1992) Macrophage colony-stimulating factor gene expression in vascular cells and in experimental and human atherosclerosis. Am J Pathol 140, 301–316.Google ScholarPubMed
Collie-Duguid, ESR & Wahle, KWJ (1996) Inhibitory effect of fish oil n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on the expression of endothelial cell adhesion molecules. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 220, 969–974.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Caterina, R, Cybulsky, MI, Clinton, SK, Gimbrone, MA Jr, Libby, P (1994) The omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoate reduces cytokine-induced expression of pro-atherogenic and pro-inflammatory proteins in human endothelial cells. Arterioscler Thromb 14, 1829–1836.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeGraba, TJ (1997) Expression of inflammatory mediators and adhesion molecules in human atherosclerotic plaque. Neurology 49, 15–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Endres, S, Ghorbani, R & Kelley, VE (1989) The effect of dietary supplementation with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on the synthesis of interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor by mononuclear cells. N Engl J Med 320, 265–271.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (2001) Executive Summary of The Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III). JAMA 285, 2486–2497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gearing, AJ & Newman, W (1993) Circulating adhesion molecules in disease. Immunol Today 14, 506–512.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, MJ, Gibson, RA & Cleland, LG (2000) Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and inflammatory mediator production. Am J Clin Nutr 71, 343–348.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johansen, O, Seljeflot, I, Hostmark, AT & Arnesen, H (1999) The effect of supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids on soluble markers of endothelial function in patients with coronary heart disease. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 19, 1681–1686.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kafatos, A, Verhagen, H, Moschandreas, J, Apostolaki, I, van Westerop, JJ (2000) Mediterranean diet of Crete: foods and nutrient content. J Am Diet Ass 100, 1487–1493.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kew, S, Banerjee, T, Minihane, AM, Finnegan, YE, Muggli, R, Albers, R, Williams, CM & Calder, PC (2003) Lack of effect of foods enriched with plant- or marine-derived n-3 fatty acids on human immune function. Am J Clin Nutr 77, 1287–1295.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Khalfoun, B, Thibault, G, Bardos, P & Lebranchu, Y (1996) Docosahexaenoic and eicosapentaenoic acids inhibit in vitro human lymphocyte-endothelial cell adhesion. Transplantation 62, 1649–1657.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Langlois, M, Duprez, D, Delanghe, J, De Buyzere, M & Clement, DL (2001) Serum vitamin C concentration is low in peripheral arterial disease and is associated with inflammation and severity of atherosclerosis. Circulation 103, 1863–1868.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewis, B, Hammett, F, Katan, M, Kay, RM, Merkx, I, Nobels, A, Miller, NE & Swan, AV (1981) Towards an improved lipid-lowering diet: additive effects of changes in nutrient intake. Lancet ii, 1310–1313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Madsen, T, Christensen, JH, Blom, M & Schmidt, EB (2003) The effect of dietary n-3 fatty acids on serum concentrations of C-reactive protein: a dose–response study. Br J Nutr 89, 517–522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Madsen, T, Skou, HA, Hansen, VE, Fog, L, Christensen, JH, Toft, E & Schmidt, EB (2001) C-reactive protein, dietary n-3 fatty acids, and the extent of coronary artery disease. Am J Cardiol 88, 1139–1142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meek, RL, Urieli-Shoval, S & Benditt, EP (1994) Expression of apolipoprotein serum amyloid A mRNA in human atherosclerotic lesions and cultured vascular cells: implications for serum amyloid A function. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 91, 3186–3190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meydani, SN, Endres, S, Woods, MM, Goldin, BR, Soo, C, Morrill-Labrode, A, Dinarello, CA & Gorbach, SL (1991) Oral (n-3) fatty acid supplementation suppresses cytokine production and lymphocyte proliferation: comparison between young and older women. J Nutr 121, 547–555.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nestle, M (1995) Mediterranean diets: historical and research overview. Am J Clin Nutr 61, 1313–1320.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pasceri, V, Willerson, JT & Yeh, ETH (2000) Direct proinflammatory effect of C-reactive protein on human endothelial cells. Circulation 102, 2165–2168.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pitsavos, C, Panagiotakos, DB, Chrysohoou, C, Papaioannou, I, Papadimitriou, L, Tousoulis, D, Stefanadis, C & Toutouzas, P (2003) The adoption of Mediterranean diet attenuates the development of acute coronary syndromes in people with the metabolic syndrome. Nutr J 2, 1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Price, DT & Loscalzo, J (1999) Cellular adhesion molecules and atherogenesis. Am J Med 107, 85–97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rallidis, LS, Paschos, G, Liakos, GK, Vellissaridou, AH, Anastasiadis, G & Zampelas, A (2003) Dietary α-linolenic acid decreases C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A and interleukin-6 in dyslipidaemic patients. Atherosclerosis 167, 237–242.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ross, R (1999) Atherosclerosis: an inflammatory disease. N Engl J Med 340, 115–126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmidt, EB, Varming, K, Moller, JM, Bulow Pedersen, I, Madsen, P, Dyerberg, J (1996) No effect of a very low dose of n-3 fatty acids on monocyte function in healthy humans. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 56, 87–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schoenherr, WD & Jewell, DE (1997) Nutritional modification of inflammatory diseases. Semin Vet Med Surg 12, 212–222.Google ScholarPubMed
Schorah, CJ, Downing, C, Piripitsi, A, Gallivan, L, Al-Hazaa, AH, Sanderson, MJ & Bodenham, A (1996) Total vitamin C, ascorbic acid, and dehydroascorbic acid concentrations in critically ill patients. Am J Clin Nutr 63, 760–765.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seljeflot, I, Arnesen, H, Brude, IR, Nenseter, MS, Drevon, CA & Hjermann, I (1998) Effects of omega-3 fatty acids and/or antioxidants on endothelial cell markers. Eur J Clin Invest 28, 629–635.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thies, F, Miles, EA, Nebe-von-Caron, G, Powell, JR, Hurst, TL, Newsholme, EA & Calder, PC (2001) Influence of dietary supplementation with long-chain n-3 or n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids on blood inflammatory cell populations and functions and on plasma soluble adhesion molecules in healthy adults. Lipids 36, 1183–1193.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trichopoulou, A (2000) From research to education: the Greek experience. Nutrition 16, 528–531.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vega-Lopez, S, Kaul, N, Devaraj, S, Cai, RY, German, B & Jialal, I (2004) Supplementation with omega3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and all-rac alpha-tocopherol alone and in combination failed to exert an anti-inflammatory effect in human volunteers. Metabolism 53, 236–240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weber, C, Erl, W, Pietsch, A, Danesch, U & Weber, PC (1995) Docosahexaenoic acid selectively attenuates induction of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 and subsequent monocytic cell adhesion to human endothelial cells stimulated by tumor necrosis factor-α. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 15, 622–628.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yannakoulia, M, Yiannakouris, N, Bluher, S, Matalas, AL, Klimis-Zacas, D & Mantzoros, CS (2003) Body fat mass and macronutrient intake in relation to circulating soluble leptin receptor, free leptin index, adiponectin, and resistin concentrations in healthy humans. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 88, 1730–1736.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yaqoob, P (2002) Monounsaturated fatty acids and immune function. Eur J Clin Nutr 56, 9–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yaqoob, P, Knapper, JA, Webb, DH, Williams, CM, Newsholme, EA & Calder, PC (1998) Effect of olive oil on immune function in middle-aged men. Am J Clin Nutr 67, 129–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yaqoob, P, Pala, HS, Cortina-Borja, M, Newsholme, EA & Calder, PC (2000) Encapsulated fish oil enriched in alpha-tocopherol alters plasma phospholipid and mononuclear cell fatty acid compositions but not mononuclear cell functions. Eur J Clin Invest 30, 260–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar