Dietary marine lipids suppress murine autoimmune disease

Dietary marine lipids reduce both mortality and the severity of glomerulonephritis in inbred murine strains which develop spontaneous autoimmune disease. The protective effects of marine lipids appear to be accounted for by the major n-3 fatty acids in these preparations, 20:5 and 22:6. The n-3 fatty acids in dietary fish oil are extensively incorporated into several lipid classes in the spleen of autoimmune mice, including phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylethanolamine, plasmalogens and saturated ether-linked phospholipids as well as diacylphosphoglycerides. The effects of dietary marine lipids on autoimmune disease in experimental models are highly specific. Careful controlled trials will be required to establish the role of dietary marine lipids in the therapy of human autoimmune disease.