Impact of various dietary oils on inflammatory markers and gene expression: a randomized crossover controlled nutritional intervention
Marie-Ève Labonté Appl. Physiol. Nutr. Metab 2013
Little is known about the impact of various dietary fatty acids on proand anti-inflammatory processes. As part of the Canola Oil Multicenter Intervention Trial (COMIT) study, we investigated the effect of
different oils containing various amounts of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), linoleic acid (LA), oleic acid (OA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on plasma inflammatory biomarkers and on the mRNA levels of
key pro- and anti-inflammatory genes in whole blood cells.
COMIT is a randomized, crossover controlled trial involving 118 men and women with abdominal obesity and at least one other criterion for the metabolic syndrome who consumed 5 experimental isoenergetic diets (15.5% protein; 35.7% fat; 50.6% carbohydrate) for 4 weeks each. Each diet provided 60 g/3000 kcal of different oils: (i) High LA corn/safflower oil (CONTROL, 10.6 g OA; 0.2 g ALA; 41.6 g LA), (ii) high ALA flax/safflower oil (FLAX, 10.7 g OA; 19.2 g ALA; 22.5 g LA), (iii) regular canola oil (CAN, 32.5 g OA; 5.9 g ALA; 11.7 g LA), (iv) high oleic canola (HO-CAN,42.8 g OA; 1.4 g ALA; 8.8 g LA), and (v) high DHA canola (DHA-CAN,37.9 g OA; 1.2 g ALA; 7.6 g LA; 3.5 g DHA). Inflammatory genemRNA levels in whole blood cells were assessed by real-time polymerase chain reaction from samples collected at the end of each diet period in a random subset of 10 individuals (6 men, 4 women). DHA-CAN lowered interleukin (IL)-6 and increased adiponectin concentrations versus CONTROL (−10.6% and +3.2%, respectively) and FLAX (−13.2% and +5.5%, respectively, all P ≤ 0.03). DHA-CAN also lowered the mRNA expression of the nuclear transcription factor kappa-B (NF-B) compared with CONTROL (−15.2%, P = 0.07) and FLAX (−22.4%, P = 0.007). There was no apparent between-diet difference in plasma high-sensitivity C-reactive protein concentrations or in the mRNA expression of otherinflammatory genes (IL-18, IL-1, tumor necrosis factor-) and receptors (natriuretic peptide receptor C). Results from this controlled feeding study suggest that DHA is a potent anti-inflammatory fatty acid compared with polyunsaturated fatty acids from plant sources and that these effects are occurring at least partly through altered NF-B pathway