Fish oil-enriched diet is mucosal protective against acetic acid-induced colitis in rats.

Abstract

Products of arachidonic acid metabolism are elevated in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and this elevation is correlated with disease activity. Eicosapentaenoic acid competes with arachidonic acid and alters eicosanoid biosynthesis. In this experiment, the possibility that eicosapentaenoic acid could be used in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease was investigated by determining the effect of 6 weeks of a fish oil-supplemented diet, enriched in eicosapentaenoic acid, on colonic and ileal morphology, histology, and in vivo fluid absorption in rats with 4% acetic acid-induced colitis. The results of an eicosapentaenoic acid-enriched diet were compared with results of saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acid-enriched diets. In rats with misoprostol pretreated acetic acid-induced colitis, an eicosapentaenoic acid-enriched diet reversed net colonic fluid secretion to absorption and prevented macroscopic and histologic injury, compared with saturated and poly-unsaturated fatty acid-enriched diets, which did not. The fish oil mucosal protective effect occurred in the presence of a 30-fold enhancement of PGE2 synthesis. In rats with non-misoprostol pretreated acetic acid-induced colitis, an eicosapentaenoic acid-enriched diet returned ileal fluid absorption to control levels, as compared with saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acid-enriched diets, which did not. In conclusion, a fish oil (eicosapentaenoic acid)-enriched diet, but not a saturated- or a polyunsaturated-enriched diet, protected colonic and ileal net fluid absorption in an experimental model of inflammatory bowel disease.

• Authors: L R Empey, L D Jewell, M L Garg, A B Thomson, M T Clandinin, R N Fedorak
• Journal: Canadian journal of physiology and pharmacology (Can J Physiol Pharmacol) Vol. 69 Issue 4 Pg. 480-7 (Apr 1991) ISSN: 0008-4212 [Print] Canada
• PMID: 1647851 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Acetates
• Dietary Fats
• Fish Oils
• Leukotriene B4
• Dinoprostone
• Acetic Acid

Topics

• Acetates (toxicity)
• Acetic Acid
• Animals
• Body Fluids (metabolism)
• Body Weight
• Colon (drug effects, metabolism)
• Colonic Diseases, Functional (chemically induced, prevention & control)
• Dietary Fats (therapeutic use)
• Dinoprostone (metabolism)
• Eating
• Fish Oils (therapeutic use)
• Ileum (drug effects, metabolism)
• Intestinal Absorption (drug effects)
• Intestinal Mucosa (drug effects)
• Leukotriene B4 (metabolism)
• Male
• Rats
• Rats, Inbred Strains