gamma-linolenic-acid and Chronic-Disease

Changes in diet over the past century have markedly altered the consumption of fatty acids. The dramatic increase in the ingestion of saturated and n-6 fatty acids and concomitant decrease in n-3 fatty acids are thought to be a major driver of the increase in the incidence of inflammatory diseases such as asthma, allergy, and atherosclerosis. The central objective of the Center for Botanical Lipids at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the Brigham and Women's Hospital is to delineate the mechanisms by which fatty acid-based dietary supplements inhibit inflammation leading to chronic human diseases such as cardiovascular disease and asthma. The key question that this center addresses is whether botanical n-6 and n-3 fatty acids directly block recognized biochemical pathways or the expression of critical genes that lead to asthma and atherosclerosis. Dietary supplementation with flaxseed oil, borage oil, and echium oil affects the biochemistry of fatty acid metabolism and thus the balance of proinflammatory mediators and atherogenic lipids. Supplementation studies have begun to identify key molecular and genetic mechanisms that regulate the production of lipid mediators involved in inflammatory and hyperlipidemic diseases. Echium oil and other oils containing stearidonic acid as well as botanical oil combinations (such as echium and borage oils) hold great promise for modulating inflammatory diseases.

Topics: Animals; Asthma; Atherosclerosis; Cholesterol; Chronic Disease; Dietary Fats; Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; Dietary Supplements; Echium; Fatty Acids, Omega-3; Fatty Acids, Omega-6; gamma-Linolenic Acid; Humans; Hyperlipidemias; Inflammation; Linseed Oil; Plant Oils; Signal Transduction; Triglycerides

Topics: Aldehyde Reductase; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors; Antioxidants; Chronic Disease; Diabetic Neuropathies; Enzyme Inhibitors; gamma-Linolenic Acid; Glycation End Products, Advanced; Guanidines; Humans; Insulin; Oxidative Stress; Rhodanine; Thiazolidines

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of evening primrose oil and fish oil on breast pain in premenopausal women with severe chronic mastalgia, in a randomized double-blind factorial clinical trial.. One hundred twenty women were placed randomly into four groups: (1) fish oil and control oil, (2) evening primrose oil and control oil, (3) fish and evening primrose oils, or (4) both control oils during 6 months. Corn oil and corn oil with wheat germ oil were used as control oils. The change in the percentage of days with breast pain after 6 months of treatment was analyzed on an intention-to-treat basis.. The decrease in days with pain was 12.3 % for evening primrose oil and 13.8% for its control oil (P =.73); the decrease in days with pain was 15.5% for fish oil and 10.6% for its control oil (P =.28).. All groups showed a decrease in pain. Neither evening primrose oil nor fish oil offered clear benefit over control oils in the treatment of mastalgia.

Topics: Adult; Breast; Chronic Disease; Corn Oil; Double-Blind Method; Drug Therapy, Combination; Fatty Acids, Essential; Female; Fish Oils; gamma-Linolenic Acid; Humans; Linoleic Acids; Oenothera biennis; Pain; Pain Measurement; Palliative Care; Plant Oils; Treatment Outcome

Dietary supplementation with essential fatty acids and polyunsaturated lecithin may improve biochemical and histological parameters in liver disease.. Ten patients with serological and histological evidence of chronic hepatitis B received capsules of the polyunsaturated fatty acid-rich evening primrose oil in a dose of 4 g daily for 12 months, while a matched group received liquid paraffin capsules as a placebo.. Compared to the placebo group, the patients receiving evening primrose oil showed no improvement in either biochemical or histological indices of liver damage, or in the rate of loss of circulating e antigen.. Dietary, supplementation with this dose of essential fatty acids is unlikely to be of benefit in chronic hepatitis B.

Topics: Adult; Chronic Disease; Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; Fatty Acids, Essential; Female; gamma-Linolenic Acid; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis B Antigens; Humans; Linoleic Acids; Liver; Liver Function Tests; Male; Middle Aged; Oenothera biennis; Plant Oils

Hand dermatitis is a common therapeutic challenge with limited and unsatisfactory therapy modules. A possible beneficial role of oral evening primrose oil needs to be investigated.. Pharmacological doses of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) could improve the water permeability barrier of the epidermis in chronic hand dermatitis. Clinical improvement, changes in the lipogram and epidermal lipid composition could define functional improvement of the skin. Electron-microscopic evaluation of the epidermal lipid bilayer could underline the efficacy of essential fatty acids in chronic hand dermatitis.. Thirty-nine patients with chronic (> 1 year), stable hand dermatitis entered a 24-week double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Patch test with the European standard of allergens, haematogram and serum IgE values were determined before commencement of the study. Active therapy (600 mg/day of GLA) was administered to half the patient group. Medication was given for 16 weeks and observations continued for another 8 weeks. Patients were assessed clinically, using a visual analogue scale at 4-week intervals. Plasma and red blood cell lipograms, as well as skin biopsies, were taken before therapy, after the 16-week supplementation period and at week 24. Tissue was used for histological evaluation, electron-microscopic assessment and epidermal lipid analysis.. Improvement in clinical parameters was present in the Epogam and placebo groups, but no statistical difference could be confirmed between the groups. Haematogram, blood and epidermal biochemistry were normal at baseline. No change in the lipid composition of plasma red cells or epidermis could be detected during the trail. Ultrastructurally skin specimens showed no change during the study period.. The study indicates that the therapeutic value of orally administered GLA for chronic hand dermatitis is not superior to that of placebo.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Adult; Aged; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Chronic Disease; Dermatologic Agents; Double-Blind Method; Epidermis; Erythrocytes; Fatty Acids, Essential; gamma-Linolenic Acid; Hand Dermatoses; Humans; Linoleic Acids; Lipid Bilayers; Lipid Metabolism; Lipids; Microscopy, Electron; Middle Aged; Oenothera biennis; Permeability; Placebos; Plant Oils; Skin; Water

We examined the effect of diets enriched in gamma linolenic acid (GLA) on acute inflammation induced by monosodium urate crystals, and on subacute and chronic inflammation induced by complete Freund's adjuvant in the rat subcutaneous air pouch and in rats with adjuvant induced arthritis. Diets were enriched (15% fat) with borage seed oil (23% GLA) or safflower oil (less than 1% GLA). Diets enriched with GLA suppressed inflammation markedly in all models, whereas the safflower oil diet did not influence the inflammatory response. The degree of inflammation was quantified by measuring pouch exudate cell concentration, lysosomal enzyme activity, volume, protein concentration and prostaglandin E2 and leukotriene B4 concentrations. In the chronic air pouch model, the pouch lining was thickened, invaded by mononuclear cells and exhibited proliferation of lining cells 14 days after adjuvant injection. The lesion was far less severe and usual pouch lining architecture was maintained in animals given dietary GLA. Livers of rats fed borage seed oil were enriched in GLA and dihomo gamma linolenic acid (DGLA), and the DGLA/arachidonate ratio was increased 5-fold compared with animals fed safflower oil. Enrichment of diet with plant seed oils rich in GLA may provide a way to alter generation of prostaglandins and leukotrienes and to influence acute and chronic inflammatory responses.

Topics: Acute-Phase Reaction; Animals; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Arthritis, Experimental; Chronic Disease; Diet; Eicosanoic Acids; gamma-Linolenic Acid; Inflammation; Linolenic Acids; Rats; Uric Acid

Topics: Animals; Arthritis; Arthritis, Experimental; Chronic Disease; Dermatologic Agents; Dietary Fats; Fatty Acids, Essential; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; gamma-Linolenic Acid; Humans; Immunity, Cellular; Inflammation; Linoleic Acids; Oenothera biennis; Plant Oils