Dietary fat intake and inflammatory bowel disease

The biologic role of fatty acids as immunomodulators has been extensively studied in the in vitro and experimental setting because of its potential therapeutic applications in chronic immune-based diseases. Unlike the conventional treatments for such conditions, this approach seldom produces severe side effects. The possibility of manipulating dietary fat as a treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been explored for a number of years. However, to date, few epidemiologic and experimental studies support the potential use of dietary fatty-acid modification. Most of the attempts to demonstrate the usefulness of this therapeutic approach in clinical studies for both active and maintenance treatment in IBD have not succeeded. This lack of success is due in the majority of cases to defects in study design and the use of inappropriate "placebo" substances. This review analyzes the potential role of manipulating dietary fatty acids in IBD with respect to disease treatment and as a possible public health tool. Also discussed is the fact that fat sources may be at least as important as the individual fatty acids because of their non-fatty acid components.