QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 139/8/1588    most recent jn.109.108027v1 Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Schwerbrock, N. M. J. Articles by Beck, M. A. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Schwerbrock, N. M. J. Articles by Beck, M. A.

---

Nutritional Immunology

Fish Oil-Fed Mice Have Impaired Resistance to Influenza Infection^1,2

Department of Nutrition, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599

Dietary fish oils, rich in (n-3) PUFA, including eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, have been shown to have antiinflammatory properties. Although the antiinflammatory properties of fish oil may be beneficial during a chronic inflammatory illness, the same antiinflammatory properties can suppress the inflammatory responses necessary to combat acute viral infection. Given that (n-3) fatty acid-rich fish oil supplementation is on the rise and with the increasing threat of an influenza pandemic, we tested the effect of fish oil feeding for 2 wk on the immune response to influenza virus infection. Male C57BL/6 mice fed either a menhaden fish oil/corn oil diet (4 g fish oil:1 g corn oil, wt:wt at 5 g/100 g diet) or a control corn oil diet were infected with influenza A/PuertoRico/8/34 and analyzed for lung pathology and immune function. Although fish oil-fed mice had lower lung inflammation compared with controls, fish oil feeding also resulted in a 40% higher mortality rate, a 70% higher lung viral load at d 7 post infection, and a prolonged recovery period following infection. Although splenic natural killer (NK) cell activity was suppressed in fish oil-fed mice, lung NK activity was not affected. Additionally, lungs of infected fish oil-fed mice had significantly fewer CD8⁺ T cells and decreased mRNA expression of macrophage inflammatory protein-1-, tumor necrosis factor-, and interleukin-6. These results suggest that the antiinflammatory properties of fish oil feeding can alter the immune response to influenza infection, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: melinda_beck{at}unc.edu.

Manuscript received 30 March 2009. Initial review completed 14 April 2009. Revision accepted 29 May 2009.

Published online 23 June 2009.