Abstract
Alterations on the immune system caused by omega-3 fatty acids have been described for 30 years. This family of polyunsaturated fatty acids exerts major alterations on the activation of cells from both the innate and the adaptive immune system, although the mechanisms for such regulation are diverse. First, as a constitutive part of the cellular membrane, omega-3 fatty acids can regulate cellular membrane properties, such as membrane fluidity or complex assembly in lipid rafts. In recent years, however, a new role for omega-3 fatty acids and their derivatives as signaling molecules has emerged. In this review, we describe the latest findings describing the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on different cells from the immune system and their possible molecular mechanisms.
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Key Points
In the present review, the main findings regarding the immunomodulatory effects of omega-3 fatty acids on the different cells that conform the immune system was summarized. Of all the immune cells investigated to date, none of them has been found to be inert to dietary omega-3 fatty acids. Generally, ALA, DHA, and EPA exert an inhibitory effect on the activation of immune cells from both the innate and the adaptive branch. Interestingly, some specific immune functions are promoted by dietary omega-3 fatty acids in specific immune cell types, i.e., phagocytosis by macrophages and neutrophils or Treg differentiation, suggesting that omega-3 fatty acids do not act as unspecific immune-repressors. Omega-3 fatty acids ameliorate symptoms in several animal disease models, such as sepsis or autoimmune hepatitis, and have been tested in clinical trials with positive outcome.