American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 51, 804-808, Copyright © 1990 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

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Dietary n-3 fatty acid supplementation reduces superoxide production and chemiluminescence in a monocyte-enriched preparation of leukocytes

M Fisher, PH Levine, BH Weiner, MH Johnson, EM Doyle, PA Ellis and JJ Hoogasian
Department of Neurology, Medical Center of Central Massachusetts- Memorial, Worcester 01605-2982.

Consuming substantial quantities of n-3 fatty acids reduces atherogenesis in experimental models of atherosclerosis. The mechanisms of this beneficial effect remain uncertain. Monocyte-derived tissue macrophages are associated with atherogenesis, and inhibition of monocyte inflammatory activity could, hypothetically, be helpful in preventing atherosclerosis. We observed that stimulated human monocyte and/or macrophage production of superoxide and the occurrence of monocyte chemiluminescence, two indices of monocyte inflammatory activity, were significantly reduced by the ingestion of 6 g n-3 fatty acids/d for 6 wk. This effect was associated with a reduction of stearic and arachidonic acids whereas eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid concentrations rose significantly. These results indicate that modest dietary n-3 fatty acid supplementation can reduce stimulated human-monocyte free-radical production and may impair the capability of macrophages derived from monocytes to promote oxidation of low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and associated cellular toxicity.

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