Dietary composition comprising gamma linolenic acid a desaturase inhibitor and an arachidonic acid metabolism inhibitor for diminishing symptoms of inflammatory disorders

摘要

Described are dietary strategies that will produce natural antagonists of arachidonic acid (AA) in inflammatory cells, thereby reducing the synthesis of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids, but without increasing serum levels of AA. Dietary supplements comprising gammalinoleic acid (GLA) are beneficial in treating inflammatory disease through an increase in neutrophil GLA, but there is a concomitant increase in serum AA. It has been discovered that neutrophils, the inflammatory response cells, do not possess a -5 desaturase. Thus, the product of GLA elongation, dihomogammalinoleic acid (DGLA) cannot be converted to AA and eicosanoids. However, in serum, DGLA formed from the elongation of GLA is converted to AA via the action of a -5 desaturase. This build-up of serum AA is likely to have harmful consequences in humans. For example, previous studies have demonstrated that increases in AA of this magnitude can increase platelet reactivity. Increases in sensitivity of platelets to stimuli in most cases are not desirable. Providing a -5 desaturase inhibitor has circumvented this problem, in this case, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in combination with the GLA, which prevents the serum increase in AA levels upon GLA administration. Thus, there are provided herein dietary fatty acid regimens that may be used to inhibit the increase of serum arachidonic acid when GLA is provided as a dietary supplement and thereby control inflammation.