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Updated: Jul 31, 2025

DNBS/TNBS Colitis Models: Providing Insights Into Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Effects of Dietary Fat
Published on: February 27, 2014
Altered mucosal and plasma polyunsaturated fatty acids, oxylipins, and endocannabinoids profiles in Crohn's disease
Yamina Ben-Mustapha1, Mohamed Kacem Ben-Fradj2, Sameh Hadj-Taieb2
1University of Tunis El Manar, Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, 1007 Tunis, Tunisia; University of Tunis El Manar, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, 2092 Tunis, Tunisia; Rabta Hospital, Laboratory of Biochemistry & LR99ES11, 1007 Tunis, Tunisia.
Abstract:
Selected mucosal and plasma polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and related oxylipins and endocannabinoids were determined in 28 Crohn's disease (CD) patients and 39 controls. Fasting blood and colonic biopsies were collected in all participants, during a disease flare for the patients. Thirty-two lipid mediators including PUFAs, oxylipins, and endocannabinoids were assessed by LC-MS/MS. The pattern of lipid mediators in CD patients is characterized by an increase in arachidonic acid-derived oxylipins and endocannabinoids and a decrease in n-3 PUFAs and related endocannabinoids. A model combining increased 6-epi-lipoxin A4 and 2-arachidonyl glycerol with decreased docoasapentaenoic acid in plasma fairly discriminates patients from controls and may represent a lipidomic signature for CD flare. The study findings suggest that lipid mediators are involved in CD pathophysiology and may serve as biomarkers for disease flare. Further research is required to confirm the role of these bioactive lipids and test their therapeutic potential in CD.
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