Fish oil supplementation induces expression of genes related to cell cycle, endoplasmic reticulum stress and apoptosis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells: a transcriptomic approach

Abstract

BackgroundFish oil supplementation has been shown to alter gene expression of mononuclear cells both in vitro and in vivo. However, little is known about the total transcriptome profile in healthy subjects after intake of fish oil. We therefore investigated the gene expression profile in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) after intake of fish oil for 7 weeks using transcriptome analyses.DesignIn a 7-week, double-blinded, randomized, controlled, parallel-group study, healthy subjects received 8 g day−1 fish oil (1.6 g day−1 eicosapentaenoic acid + docosahexaenoic acid) (n = 17) or 8 g day−1 high oleic sunflower oil (n = 19). Microarray analyses of RNA isolated from PBMCs were performed at baseline and after 7 weeks of intervention.ResultsCell cycle, DNA packaging and chromosome organization are biological processes found to be upregulated after intake of fish oil compared to high oleic sunflower oil using a moderated t-test. In addition, gene set enrichment analysis identified several enriched gene sets after intake of fish oil. The genes contributing to the significantly different gene sets in the subjects given fish oil compared with the control group are involved in cell cycle, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and apoptosis. Gene transcripts with common motifs for 35 known transcription factors including E2F, TP53 and ATF4 were upregulated after intake of fish oil.ConclusionWe have shown that intake of fish oil for 7 weeks modulates gene expression in PBMCs of healthy subjects. The increased expression of genes related to cell cycle, ER stress and apoptosis suggests that intake of fish oil may modulate basic cellular processes involved in normal cellular function.

Response of Macrobrachium rosenbergii to Vegetable Oils Replacing Dietary Fish Oil: Insights From Antioxidant Defense

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Healthy Nordic Diet Modulates the Expression of Genes Related to Mitochondrial Function and Immune Response in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells from Subjects with Metabolic Syndrome–A SYSDIET Sub‐Study

“…Gene transcripts related to processes such as cell division, ‐proliferation, and ‐growth and apoptosis were downregulated by ND compared to CD (Tables and ), indicating that the intake of ND has an impact on basic cellular processes. Interestingly, the intake of fish oil has previously been shown to modulate expression of genes related to cell cycle and apoptosis . Whether the effects reported in the current study are specific to n‐3 fatty acids remains to be elucidated.…”

Integrated Analys of High‐Fat Challenge‐Induced Changes in Blood Cell Whole‐Genome Gene Expression

“…A good source of cells to study the abovementioned processes are peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), which have proven useful for the determination of the effects of nutritional interventions on gene expression profiles . These cells are a subset of circulating white blood cells, which are straightforward to collect during human intervention studies as they can be easily isolated from blood.…”