A large body of evidence suggests that dietary n-3
polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), including
eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and
docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), contribute to a reduced inflammatory tone thereby lowering the risk for several chronic and degenerative diseases. Different mechanisms have been proposed to explain these anti-inflammatory effects, including those involving
endocannabinoids and
endocannabinoid-like molecules. In this context,
fatty acid amides (FAAs), conjugates of
fatty acids with
amines or
amino acids, are an emerging class of compounds.
Dopamine conjugates of DHA (
N-docosahexaenoyl dopamine, DHDA) and EPA (N-eicosapentaenoyl
dopamine, EPDA) have previously been shown to induce autophagy, apoptosis, and cell death in different
tumor lines. Additionally, DHDA has displayed anti-inflammatory properties in vitro. Here, we tested the immune-modulatory properties of EPDA in mouse RAW 264.7 and human THP-1 macrophages stimulated with
lipopolysaccharide (LPS). EPDA suppressed the production of
monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and
interleukin-6 (IL-6) in both cell lines, and
nitric oxide (NO), and macrophage-inflammatory protein-3α (MIP3A) in RAW 264.7 macrophages. At a transcriptional level, EPDA attenuated
cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in both cell lines and that of MCP-1,
IL-6, and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in THP-1 macrophages. Although further research is needed to reveal whether EPDA is an endogenous metabolite, our data suggest that this EPA-derived conjugate possesses interesting immune-modulating properties.