Effects of dietary lipid manipulation upon inflammatory mediator production by murine macrophages

This study investigated the effects of feeding mice lipids with different fatty acid compositions upon the ability of stimulated macrophages to produce inflammatory mediators. Weanling mice were fed for 8 weeks on a low-fat (LF; 2.5% by weight) diet or on diets containing 20% by weight of hydrogenated coconut oil (HCO), olive oil (OO), safflower oil (SO), or menhaden (fish) oil (MO). Thioglycollate-elicited peritoneal macrophages were isolated. Macrophages isolated from MO-fed mice produced less PGE2, 6-keto-PGF1 alpha, TXB2, and interleukin-6 in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation than those from mice fed each of the other diets. Macrophages from mice fed the OO, SO, or MO diets produced less tumor necrosis factor alpha in response to LPS stimulation than those from mice fed the LF or HCO diets. There was no effect of dietary lipid manipulation upon the production of interleukin-1 by LPS-stimulated macrophages. Macrophages from mice fed the MO diet produced more superoxide and hydrogen peroxide in response to phorbol ester stimulation than those from mice fed each of the other diets. In response to unopsonized zymosan, macrophages from mice fed the SO or MO diets produced more hydrogen peroxide than macrophages from mice fed the other diets. LPS-stimulated nitric oxide production was greater from macrophages from OO-, SO-, or MO-fed mice than from those fed the LF or HCO diets. Thus, the nature of the lipid consumed in the diet has significant effects upon the production of a variety of inflammatory mediators by macrophages. The most potent effect is caused by fish oil consumption. Possible mechanisms by which dietary fatty acids, particularly the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids found in fish oils, could affect mediator production by macrophages are described. The clinical relevance of such effects is discussed.