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Mouse Peritoneal Macrophage Prostaglandin E₁ Synthesis is Altered by Dietary Gamma-Linolenic Acid¹

Department of Animal Science, Molecular and Cell Biology Group and the Graduate Faculty of Nutrition, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2471

The ability of dietary gamma-linolenic acid [18:3(n-6)] to modulate prostaglandin biosynthesis in mouse resident peritoneal macrophages was determined. Mice were fed diets containing corn oil, borage oil or evening primrose oil or a mixture of borage and fish oils. After 2 wk, resident peritoneal macrophages were isolated and stimulated with unopsonized zymosan to induce prostaglandin synthesis. Borage oil, primrose oil and fish-borage oil mixture dietary groups (containing 25.6, 11.9 and 19.5 g -linolenic acid/100 g fatty acids, respectively) had significantly (P < 0.05) enhanced prostaglandin E₁ synthesis (39.7, 29.4 and 73.0 nmol prostaglandin E₁/mg protein, respectively) compared with corn oil-fed (containing <0.1 g -linolenic acid/100 g fatty acids) animals, which synthesized <0.1 nmol prostaglandin E₁/mg protein. Borage oil- and fish-borage oil mixture-fed mice had the highest biosynthetic ratio of prostaglandin E₁/prostaglandin E₂ (E₁/E₂ 0.2). Macrophages from borage oil-fed mice synthesized the lowest amount of prostacyclin (198.7 nmol 6-keto-prostaglandin F₁/mg protein) compared with corn oil-, primrose oil- and fish-borage oil mixture-fed mice (379.7, 764.8 and 384.2 nmol 6-keto-prostaglandin F₁/mg protein, respectively). In addition, borage oil-, primrose oil- and fish-borage oil mixture-fed mice had significantly (P < 0.05) higher levels of dihomo--linolenic acid [20:3(n-6)] in membrane phospholipids (5.5, 3.5 and 5.7 mol/100 mol, respectively) relative to corn oil-fed mice (2.0 mol/100 mol). These results indicate that mouse peritoneal macrophages elongate dietary -linolenic acid to dihomo--linolenic acid, and upon stimulation, convert dihomo--linolenic acid to prostaglandin E₁, an eicosanoid with anti-aggregatory, anti-inflammatory properties.

KEY WORDS: • mouse macrophage • -linolenic acid • prostaglandin E₁ • mice • dihomo--linolenic acid

¹ Supported by National Institutes of Health grant DK41693 and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research Service, project no. H-6983.

² To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Manuscript received 3 December 1991. Revision accepted 19 March 1992.