immunmodulation of asthma with the diet enriched with omega-3 fatty acids

Therapeutic modalities of asthma have not been proved to be successful in reversing the already established chronic changes of airways. For this reason interventions including dietary changes before the sensitization and remodelling period would be beneficial in terms of preventing those changes. We aimed to determine the impact of the diet enriched with omega-3 fatty acids, a potential antiinflamatory agent, on chronic changes of ashma in a mice model. Adult Balb/c mice were divided into two groups. During the development of chronic asthma model; mice in omega-3 fatty acid group received a diet enriched with omega-3 fatty acids, whereas mice in control group received a diet with omega-6 polyunsaturated and saturated fatty acids. In both groups Balb/c mice were sensitized intraperitoneally with 10 ?g/100 ?l of ovalbumin (OVA) and 1.5 mg Al(OH)3 on days 1, 14 and 21. Primed mice were challanged by repeated intranasal instillation of 20 ?g/10 ?l OVA three times a week. Mice were sacrified and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was obtained 24 h after the last challange (day 77). Lungs were histologically examined. Omega-3 fatty acid group showed significantly reduced neutrophil percentage in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. There was no statistically differances between two groups in lenfosit, macrophage and eosinophil percentage. Comparison of the two groups showed significant difference in thickness of basement membrane. There was no significant difference between two groups for goblet cell numbers, subepithelial smooth muscle of airways and bronchia associated lymphoid tissue. Results of our study suggested that consumption of omega-3 fatty acids would prevent some of the chronic changes of airways due to asthma. Future studies are needed to evaluate the potential preventive and therapeutic effect of omega-3 fatty acids in asthma. Key words: Ashma, mice model, omega-3 fatty acids, remodelling.