Arachidonic acid in mononuclear cells and its clinical significance in HCV cirrhotic patients.
OBJECTIVE
An abnormal fatty acid pattern in patients with advanced liver cirrhosis (LC) has been reported in plasma phospholipids and some other tissues. To elucidate the significance of arachidonic acid deficiency on the clinical pathophysiology of LC and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we analyzed the fatty acid compositions of mononuclear cell phospholipids, plasma alpha-tocopherol, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in cirrhotic patients infected with the hepatitis C virus with and without HCC.


METHODS
Twelve cirrhotic patients without HCC (LC patients) and 11 with HCC (HCC patients) were enrolled. Fatty acids were analyzed with gas chromatography. alpha-Tocopherol and TNF-alpha were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Statistical analysis was performed by using the unpaired t test with Welch's correction and Spearman's rank-correlation analysis.


RESULTS
Significantly low levels of linoleic, dihomo-gamma-linolenic, arachidonic, and eicosapentaenoic acids from mononuclear cell phospholipids were observed in LC and HCC patients compared with control subjects. Plasma alpha-tocopherol was lower and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances were higher in HCC patients than in controls. Arachidonic acid molar percentage in mononuclear cell phospholipids correlated significantly with lymphocyte count (r = 0.460, P < 0.05) in the cirrhotic patients and with lymphocyte (r = 0.680, P < 0.01) and platelet (r = 0.763, P < 0.01) counts in all subjects.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggested that arachidonic acid in mononuclear cells may have an important role in the pathophysiology of hepatitis C virus associated with cirrhosis and that nutritional management preventing arachidonic acid deficiency may have some beneficial effects on the progression of LC.
Okita
Misako
M
Department of Nutritional Science, Faculty of Health and Welfare Science, Okayama Prefectural University, Soja, Japan. okita@fhw.oka-pu.ac.jp
Tomioka
Kayoko
K
Ota
Yasuko
Y
Sasagawa
Takayo
T
Osawa
Toshiya
T
Sakai
Nobuyuki
N
Kawaguchi
Mitsuhiko
M
Itoshima
Tatsuya
T
D000368:Aged; D016718:Arachidonic Acid / Q000032:analysis / Q000172:deficiency*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D018450:Disease Progression; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000737:chemistry*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000737:chemistry; D010976:Platelet Count; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000032:analysis; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood
D005227:Fatty Acids; D010743:Phospholipids; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016718:Arachidonic Acid; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol