Omega-3 fatty acids modulate cyclophosphamide induced markers of immunosuppression and oxidative stress in pigs

Sang In Lee,Kyung Soo Kang

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-39458-x

Abstract

Immunosuppression directly correlates with economic benefits in livestock. Although omega-3, known as an energy source, is used as a pharmaceutical molecule, it remains unknown whether dietary supplementation with omega-3 can alleviate cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppression in pigs. Omega-3 treatment increased the number of white blood cell, lymphocytes, and monocytes and decreased tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α production under CTX challenge. In addition, we confirmed that omega-3 decreased the expression of nuclear factor (NF)-κB, TNF-α, interferon (IFN)-γ, and interleukin (IL)-8 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Additionally, omega-3 alleviated the activities of liver injury markers (alanine transaminase [ALT] and aspartate transaminase [AST]) and modulated oxidative stress markers (superoxide dismutase [SOD], malondialdehyde [MDA], and glutathione peroxidase [GPx]) in the blood serum after the CTX challenge. Based on these results, we suggest that omega-3 treatment modulates CTX-induced immunosuppression and oxidative stress in pigs. These results may have important implications in the development of new therapeutic approaches to improve immunosuppression, hepatic injury and dysfunction, and oxidative stress in pigs.

Highlights

Immunosuppression induced by many factors such as infection and stress results in mortality, susceptibility to diseases, and growth retardation[1,2]
To determine whether omega-3 treatment affects the immune reaction after a CTX challenge, we counted the numbers of immune cells such as white blood cells (WBCs), lymphocytes, and monocytes in the blood after the CTX challenge
We examined whether omega-3 supplementation moderates the immune function and oxidative stress in CTX-challenged miniature pigs

Summary

Introduction

Immunosuppression induced by many factors such as infection and stress results in mortality, susceptibility to diseases, and growth retardation[1,2]. Numerous previous studies have demonstrated that omega-3 was used as pharmaceutical drug for inflammatory disease and genotoxicity, and oxidative stress[13,14]. It remains unknown whether omega-3 treatment could alleviate the immunosuppressive effects of CTX on inflammation and oxidative stress in pigs. As a large animal model, are acceptable for studying human nutrition and metabolism because of they have more similarities to humans in both genetic and disease characteristics than rodent models do[17,18]. In the present study, we used a miniature pig model to evaluate the effects of feeding omega-3 fatty acids on CTX-induced immunosuppressed pigs

Methods

Results

Conclusion