title: DHA-rich tuna oil effectively suppresses allergic symptoms in mice allergic to whey or peanut.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Supplementation with long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) has been found to reduce the development of allergic disease.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of fish oil diets rich in eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3; EPA) or docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3; DHA) in suppressing food allergic symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mice were fed a control diet (10% soybean oil) or fish oil diet rich in EPA (4% soybean oil + 6% EPA oil containing 28.8% EPA and 13.7% DHA) or DHA (4% soybean oil + 6% DHA oil containing 7% EPA and 27.8% DHA), starting 14 d before and for 5 wk during oral sensitization with peanut extract (PE) or whey. Acute allergic skin responses, serum immunoglobulins (Igs), and mucosal mast cell protease-1 (mmcp-1) were assessed. Hyperimmune serum was transferred to naive recipient mice fed the different diets.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The DHA diet effectively reduced the acute allergic skin response compared with the control or EPA diet in PE-allergic mice (control, 159 ± 15, or EPA, 129 ± 8, vs. DHA, 78 ± 7 μm; P < 0.0001 or P < 0.05, respectively). In contrast, both the DHA and EPA diets reduced the allergic skin response in whey allergic mice (control, 169 ± 9, vs. DHA, 91 ± 13, or EPA, 106 ± 14 μm; P < 0.001 or P < 0.01, respectively); however, only the DHA diet reduced mmcp-1 and whey-specific IgE and IgG1. The DHA and EPA diets also reduced the acute skin response in passively immunized mice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The DHA-rich fish oil diet reduced allergic sensitization to whey and allergic symptoms in both PE- and whey-allergic mice. These data suggest that DHA-rich fish oil is useful as an intervention to prevent or treat food allergy symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science.
authors.forename: Lieke W J
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: van den Elsen
authors.affiliation: Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; and.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bol-Schoenmakers
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science Nutricia Research, Centre for Specialised Nutrition, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Betty C A M
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: van Esch
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science.
authors.forename: Gerard A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Hofman
authors.affiliation: Nutricia Research, Centre for Specialised Nutrition, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bert J M
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: van de Heijning
authors.affiliation: Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; and.
authors.forename: Raymond H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Pieters
authors.affiliation: Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; and.
authors.forename: Joost J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Smit
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science Nutricia Research, Centre for Specialised Nutrition, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garssen
authors.affiliation: Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science l.e.m.willemsen@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Linette E M
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Willemsen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D005395:Fish Oils / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000097:blood; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D016269:Milk Hypersensitivity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D021183:Peanut Hypersensitivity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017747:Seafood; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D014413:Tuna
chemical_list: D005395:Fish Oils; D007136:Immunoglobulins; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid
keywords: DHA; EPA; food allergy; n–3 LCPUFA; prevention