Polyunsaturated fatty acids and cytokine profiles: a clue to the changing prevalence of atopy?

BACKGROUND: The increased consumption of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) has been shown to coincide with the increased prevalence of atopic diseases. We aimed to investigate whether maternal diet and atopic status influence the PUFA…

Arachidonic-acid-derived eicosanoids modulate the production of pro-inflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokines. Overproduction of these cytokines is associated with both septic shock and chronic inflammatory diseases. The n-3 polyunsaturated fatty…

Cytokines are important biologic mediators with tightly regulated production. Overproduction contributes to pathogenesis of acute and chronic inflammatory, autoimmune, atherosclerotic, and neoplastic diseases. Animal and human studies have shown…

The n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid arachidonic acid gives rise to the eicosanoid family of mediators (prostaglandins, thromboxanes, leukotrienes and related metabolites). These have inflammatory actions in their own right and also regulate the…

The susceptibility of fatty acids to oxidation is thought to be directly dependent on their degree of unsaturation. However, some in vitro and in vivo studies suggest that the relation between chemical structure and susceptibility to oxidation is…

The major aspects of the antithrombogenic and antiatherogenic effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) have been outlined. After briefly relating on the biochemistry, the essentiality concept has been defined. Some of the many evidences of…

BACKGROUND: 30 % of patients with epilepsy have recurrent drug-resistent seizures. Some children with catastrophic epilepsy have responded well to a ketogenic diet. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are at least partly responsible for the anticonvulsive…

Ethanol exposure leads to a loss in membrane polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). It is proposed that polyunsaturated species of phospholipids are not randomly distributed, but are concentrated in the cytosolic leaflets of the plasma membrane and are…

To explore the possible involvement of a relationship between steroids and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in thyroid cancer, we studied the concentration levels of 21 endogenous urinary androgens and glucocorticoids, and 6 urinary PUFAs in…

The cytokines interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha are potent peptide mediators of the immune response. They exert potent cellular effects at nanomolar concentrations with target tissues ranging from the vascular endothelium, to the central…