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Fatty Acids and Inflammation: From Biochemistry to Human Evidence

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A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2022) | Viewed by 22432

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Carlo Agostoni

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Guest Editor

Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health (DISCCO), University of Milan, 20122 Milan, Italy
Interests: n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids; nutrition; lipid metabolism; metabolic diseases; EPA; DHA; neurodevelopment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Francesco Visioli

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Guest Editor

Department of Molecular Medicine, Università degli Studi di Padova, Padua, Italy
Interests: micronutrients; fatty acids; (poly)phenols; vitamins; pharma-nutrition; neurodegeneration; milk components

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Inflammation, especially that which is low-grade and chronic, triggers downstream processes that play crucial roles in the development of degenerative diseases such as atherosclerosis, cancer, and neurodegeneration. Furthermore, joint health and gastrointestinal wellbeing are largely modulated by inflammatory status. The individual status may easily switch from positive to negative depending on either genetic or environmental variables, respectively. Unlike genetic variables, environmental determinants may be changed in order to orient the individual inflammatory status towards a more favorable balance.

Among the environmental determinants, diet and many of its components may modulate inflammation via enzyme inhibition, substrate availability for the formation of inflammatory mediators, and active resolution of inflammation. In this respect, fatty acids are of paramount importance because of their ability to alter membranes’ composition, inhibit the inflammatory cascade, and form molecules that actively participate in inflammation’s resolution.

We aim to collate important contributions that will form a state-of-the-art Special Issue useful to basic researchers and practitioners alike, with the overarching goal of moving the field further.

Prof. Dr. Carlo Agostoni
Prof. Dr. Francesco Visioli
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

arachidonic acid
eicosapentaenoic acid
docosahexaenoic acid
eicosanoids
prostaglandins
cytokines
inflammation

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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23 pages, 5803 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Tibolone Pre-Treatment Ameliorates the Dysregulation of Protein Translation and Transport Generated by Palmitic Acid-Induced Lipotoxicity in Human Astrocytes: A Label-Free MS-Based Proteomics and Network Analysis

by Diego Julián Vesga-Jiménez, Cynthia A. Martín-Jiménez, Adriana Grismaldo Rodríguez, Andrés Felipe Aristizábal-Pachón, Andrés Pinzón, George E. Barreto, David Ramírez and Janneth González

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(12), 6454; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms23126454 - 09 Jun 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1959

Abstract

Excessive accumulation and release of fatty acids (FAs) in adipose and non-adipose tissue are characteristic of obesity and are associated with the leading causes of death worldwide. Chronic exposure to high concentrations of FAs such as palmitic acid (pal) is a risk factor for developing different neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) through several mechanisms. In the brain, astrocytic dysregulation plays an essential role in detrimental processes like metabolic inflammatory state, oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and autophagy impairment. Evidence shows that tibolone, a synthetic steroid, induces neuroprotective effects, but its molecular mechanisms upon exposure to pal remain largely unknown. Due to the capacity of identifying changes in the whole data-set of proteins and their interaction allowing a deeper understanding, we used a proteomic approach on normal human astrocytes under supraphysiological levels of pal as a model to induce cytotoxicity, finding changes of expression in proteins related to translation, transport, autophagy, and apoptosis. Additionally, tibolone pre-treatment showed protective effects by restoring those same pal-altered processes and increasing the expression of proteins from cell survival processes. Interestingly, ARF3 and IPO7 were identified as relevant proteins, presenting a high weight in the protein-protein interaction network and significant differences in expression levels. These proteins are related to transport and translation processes, and their expression was restored by tibolone. This work suggests that the damage caused by pal in astrocytes simultaneously involves different mechanisms that the tibolone can partially revert, making tibolone interesting for further research to understand how to modulate these damages. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fatty Acids and Inflammation: From Biochemistry to Human Evidence)

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Review

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12 pages, 308 KiB

Open AccessReview

Dietary Fatty Acids and Inflammation: Focus on the n-6 Series

by Andrea Poli, Carlo Agostoni and Francesco Visioli

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(5), 4567; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms24054567 - 26 Feb 2023

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4652

Abstract

Among the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), those belonging to the n-3 (or ω3) series, i.e., alpha-linolenic (ALA), eicosapentaenoic (EPA), and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids have been studied for decades from a pharma-nutritional viewpoint, namely in relation to cardiovascular health. More recent research is focusing on n-6 PUFAs, e.g., linoleic acid (LA), whose levels of consumption are much higher than those of n-3 and that cannot be used “pharmacologically”. Perhaps because of this, the biological actions of n-6 PUFAs have not been investigated in details as those of their n-3 counterparts. However, an increasing body of evidence underscores their healthful actions on the cardiovascular system. Among the critiques to n-6 PUFAs and, particularly, LA there is the fact that they are precursors of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids. Hence, the hypothesis posits that we should reduce their intakes precisely to avoid increasing systemic, low-grade inflammation, i.e., one of the major etiological agents in degenerative diseases. In this narrative review, we address the issue of whether n-6 PUFAs are indeed pro-inflammatory, we discuss the most recent evidence of their role(s) in human health and prognosis, and we conclude that adequate intakes of n-6 fatty acids are associated with better cardiovascular health and child development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fatty Acids and Inflammation: From Biochemistry to Human Evidence)

11 pages, 2408 KiB

Open AccessReview

Maresin-1 and Inflammatory Disease

by Natsuko Saito-Sasaki, Yu Sawada and Motonobu Nakamura

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(3), 1367; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms23031367 - 25 Jan 2022

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 4281

Abstract

Inflammation is an essential action to protect the host human body from external, harmful antigens and microorganisms. However, an excessive inflammation reaction sometimes exceeds tissue damage and can disrupt organ functions. Therefore, anti-inflammatory action and resolution mechanisms need to be clarified. Dietary foods are an essential daily lifestyle that influences various human physiological processes and pathological conditions. Especially, omega-3 fatty acids in the diet ameliorate chronic inflammatory skin diseases. Recent studies have identified that omega-3 fatty acid derivatives, such as the resolvin series, showed strong anti-inflammatory actions in various inflammatory diseases. Maresin-1 is a derivative of one of the representative omega-3 fatty acids, i.e., docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and has shown beneficial action in inflammatory disease models. In this review, we summarize the detailed actions of maresin-1 in immune cells and inflammatory diseases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fatty Acids and Inflammation: From Biochemistry to Human Evidence)

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25 pages, 3322 KiB

Open AccessReview

Effects of Dietary n–3 and n–6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Inflammation and Cancerogenesis

by Kamila P. Liput, Adam Lepczyński, Magdalena Ogłuszka, Agata Nawrocka, Ewa Poławska, Agata Grzesiak, Brygida Ślaska, Chandra S. Pareek, Urszula Czarnik and Mariusz Pierzchała

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(13), 6965; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijms22136965 - 28 Jun 2021

Cited by 87 | Viewed by 10407

Abstract

The dietary recommendation encourages reducing saturated fatty acids (SFA) in diet and replacing them with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) n–3 (omega–3) and n–6 (omega–6) to decrease the risk of metabolic disturbances. Consequently, excessive n–6 PUFAs content and high n–6/n–3 ratio are found in Western-type diet. The importance of a dietary n–6/n–3 ratio to prevent chronic diseases is linked with anti-inflammatory functions of linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n–3) and longer-chain n–3 PUFAs. Thus, this review provides an overview of the role of oxylipins derived from n–3 PUFAs and oxylipins formed from n–6 PUFAs on inflammation. Evidence of PUFAs’ role in carcinogenesis was also discussed. In vitro studies, animal cancer models and epidemiological studies demonstrate that these two PUFA groups have different effects on the cell growth, proliferation and progression of neoplastic lesions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fatty Acids and Inflammation: From Biochemistry to Human Evidence)

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