Relationship between the fatty acid composition of rat lymphocytes and immune functions

Abstract

The effects of dietary lipids on the fatty acid composition, activation and proliferation of lymphocytes were investigated. Weanling male Wistar rats were fed for 8 weeks on one of two low-fat diets which contained 50 g lipid/kg, or one of two high-fat diets containing 200 g lipid/kg, from either coconut oil or soyabean oil. The fatty acid composition of phospholipids from splenocyte membranes was affected by dietary lipid manipulation, and these differences influenced lymphocyte functions. Increased levels of linoleic acid in spleen lymphocytes correlated negatively with interleukin-2 receptor α-chain expression determined either by measuring the mean fluorescence or by the proportion of cells staining positive for CD25, and with the cell proliferation index. However, we found a positive correlation between interleukin-2 receptor α-chain expression determined by measuring the mean fluorescence and the cell proliferation index with the oleic acid concentration of spleen lymphocytes. Since phospholipid hydrolysis occurs early in lymphocyte activation, immunosuppressive effects induced by polyunsaturated fatty acids, described in the literature, could be due to an increase of linoleic acid or a decrease of oleic acid affecting many components of plasma-membrane-associated events involved in lymphocyte activation.

The effects of dietary lipids on adrenergically-stimulated lipolysis in perinodal adipose tissue following prolonged activation of a single lymph node

“…Our lipid-supplemented diets induce substantial changes to the fatty acid composition of adipose tissue triacylglycerols in guinea pigs within 6 weeks (Colby & Pond, 1993), although they provide less lipid than those fed to mice by Wallace et al (2000), or to rats by Sanderson et al (1995) and Moussa et al (2000), and more than those fed to weanling guinea pigs by Pöschl et al (1999). In contrast to expectations from rat experiments (e.g.…”

Dietary 18:3ω3 influences immune function and the tissue fatty acid response to antigens and adjuvant

“…However, recent studies on the desaturation/chain-elongation of 18:33 to 22:63 estimate it to be less than 0.2% [7], suggesting this may not be the case. Also, despite increased dietary intake of 18:33, less 18:33 is found in the phospholipid membranes of immune cells compared to 20:53 and 22:63 [8]. Therefore, 18:33 may in fact have different immunomodulatory properties then 20:53 and 22:63.…”

Effects of Opuntia humifusa Seed Powder on Serum Lipid Profile in Ovariectomized Rats

“…The linoleic acids (C18:2) were present at the highest concentration (70.9%) in OHS. Fatty acids play a structural role in biological membranes and change the fatty acid composition of the lymphocyte plasma membrane, which may influence immune functions (29). The linoleic and oleic acid levels in OHS were similar to those of safflower oil (30).…”