Effects of dietary arachidonic acid on human immune response

Arachidonic acid (AA) is a precursor of eicosanoids, which influence human health and the in vitro activity of immune cells. We therefore examined the effects of dietary AA on the immune response (IR) of 10 healthy men living at our metabolic suite for 130 d. All subjects were fed a basal diet containing 27 energy percentage (en%) fat, 57 en% carbohydrate, and 16 en% protein (AA, 200 mg/d) for the first and last 15 d of the study. Additional AA (1.5 g/d) was incorporated into the diet of six men from day 16 to 65 while the remaining four subjects continued to eat the basal diet. The diets of the two groups were crossed-over from day 66 to 115. In vitro indexes of IR were examined using the blood samples drawn on days 15, 58, 65, 108, 115, and 127. The subjects were immunized with the measles/mumps/rubella vaccine on day 35 and with the influenza vaccine on day 92. Dietary AA did not influence many indexes of IR (peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferation in response to phytohemagglutinin, Concanavalin A, pokeweed, measles/mumps/rubella, and influenza vaccines prior to immunization, and natural killer cell activity). The post-immunization proliferation in response to influenza vaccine was about fourfold higher in the group receiving high-AA diet compared to the group receiving low-AA diet (P = 0.02). Analysis of variance of the data pooled from both groups showed that the number of circulating granulocytes was significantly (P = 0.03) more when the subjects were fed the high-AA diet than when they were fed the low-AA diet. The small increases in granulocyte count and the in vitro proliferation in response to influenza vaccine caused by dietary AA may not be of clinical significance. However, the lack of any adverse effects on IR indicates that supplementation with AA may be done safely when needed for other health reasons.