2. Academic Validation
  3. Increase of EPA-derived hydroxy, epoxy and dihydroxy fatty acid levels in human plasma after a single dose of long-chain omega-3 PUFA

Increase of EPA-derived hydroxy, epoxy and dihydroxy fatty acid levels in human plasma after a single dose of long-chain omega-3 PUFA

  • Prostaglandins Other Lipid Mediat. 2014 Jun:109-111:23-31. doi: 10.1016/j.prostaglandins.2014.03.001.
Jan Philipp Schuchardt 1,  Inga Schneider 2,  Ina Willenberg 3,  Jun Yang 4,  Bruce D Hammock 4,  Andreas Hahn 2,  Nils Helge Schebb 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Institute of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany. Electronic address: Schuchardt@nutrition.uni-hannover.de.
  • 2 Institute of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany.
  • 3 Institute for Food Toxicology and Analytical Chemistry, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany.
  • 4 Department of Entomology and Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
PMID: 24667634 DOI: 10.1016/j.prostaglandins.2014.03.001
Abstract

Introduction: Several supplementation studies with long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC n-3 PUFA) describe an increase of EPA-derived hydroxy, epoxy and dihydroxy fatty acids in blood, while changes in levels of other LC n-3 and n-6 PUFA-derived oxylipins were minor. In order to investigate the kinetics of changes in oxylipin levels in response to LC n-3 PUFA ingestion, we conducted a single dose treatment study with healthy subjects.

Subjects and methods: In the present kinetic study, we compared patterns of hydroxy, epoxy and dihydroxy fatty acids in plasma of 6 healthy men before and after 6, 8, 24, and 48h of fish oil (1008mg EPA and 672mg DHA) ingestion. Levels of EPA- as well as other LC PUFA-derived hydroxy, epoxy and dihydroxy fatty acids were analyzed in plasma by LC-MS. Additionally, levels of these oxylipins were compared with their parent PUFA levels in plasma Phospholipids.

Results: All EPA-derived oxylipin levels were significantly increased 6h after LC n-3 PUFA ingestion and gradually drop thereafter reaching the baseline levels about 48h after treatment. The relative increase in EPA plasma phospholipid levels highly correlated with the increase of plasma EPA-derived oxylipin levels at different time points. In contrast, plasma levels of arachidonic acid- and DHA-derived oxylipins as well as parent PUFA levels in plasma Phospholipids were hardly changed.

Discussion and conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that a single dose of LC n-3 PUFAs can rapidly induce a shift in the EPA oxylipin profile of healthy subjects within a few hours. Taking the high biological activity of the EPA-derived epoxy fatty acids into account, even short-term treatment with LC n-3 PUFAs may cause systemic effects, which warrant further investigation.

Keywords

Arachidonic acid; Eicosanoids; Eicosapentaenoic acid; Oxylipins.

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