title: Cigarette smoke negatively and dose-dependently affects the biosynthetic pathway of the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid series in human mammary epithelial cells.
abstract: Maternal smoking during pregnancy has been associated with a reduced content of n-3 long-chain PUFA (LC-PUFA) in breast milk, thereby reducing the intake of key nutrients by the infants. We postulated that the mammary gland is affected by maternal smoking in the process of n-3 LC-PUFA secretion into milk. This prompted us to investigate the effects of cigarette smoke on the synthesis of n-3 LC-PUFA in vitro by using a line of healthy epithelial cells from the human mammary gland, MCF-10A. Cells were exposed to cigarette smoke under controlled conditions by adding to the medium aliquots of horse serum containing smoke components, as analyzed by GC-MS. The major findings concern the inhibition of both the conversion of the precursor 14C-ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) to n-3 LC-PUFA and of the A5 desaturation step (assessed by HPLC analysis with radiodetection of n-3 FAME) following exposure to minimal doses of smoke-enriched serum, and the dose-dependent relationship of these effects. The data indicate that exposure to cigarette smoke negatively affects the synthesis of n-3 LC-PUFA from the precursor in mammary gland cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacological Sciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy. Franca.Marangoni@unimi.it
authors.forename: Franca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marangoni
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Colombo
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Angelis
authors.forename: Veniero
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gambaro
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Agostoni
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giovannini
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Galli
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D042361:Mammary Glands, Human / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000378:metabolism; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases