Interaction of dietary fatty acids with obesity induced cytokines in primary human pulmonary fibroblasts

Abstract

Introduction: Obesity is an important risk factor for developing severe asthma. Dietary fatty acids, increased in the serum of obese people, activate systemic innate immune responses. Furthermore, we have shown that a single high fat meal increases airway inflammation and impairs bronchodilator recovery in asthma. Aims: To investigate whether dietary fatty acids directly cause inflammation and/or synergise with obesity induced cytokines. Methods: Primary human pulmonary fibroblasts were incubated with BSA-conjugated fatty acids for 24hr, before stimulation with TNFα for another 24hr. IL6 and CXCL8 release was measured using ELISA. IL6 acts as a general marker for inflammation and CXCL8 is a potent neutrophilic chemoattractant. The following ω-6 and 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids were used: arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (1, 10, 100µM). Results: AA induced substantial IL6 (n=11, P Conclusion: These findings suggest that dietary fatty acids are important modulators of inflammatory responses and that there is an interaction between fatty acids and TNFα, resulting in a synergetic inflammatory response in pulmonary fibroblasts. This could indicate that obese asthmatics compared to lean individuals, are more prone to airway inflammation after a high fat meal.