CHANGES IN PLASMA PHOSPHOLIPID FATTY-ACIDS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO DISEASE-ACTIVITY IN RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS PATIENTS TREATED WITH A VEGETARIAN DIET

In a controlled clinical trial we have recently shown that patients wi th rheumatoid arthritis (RA) improved after fasting for 7-10 d and tha t the improvement could be sustained through 3.5 months with a vegan d iet and 9 months with a lactovegetarian diet. Other studies have indic ated that the inflammatory process in RA can be reduced through manipu lation of dietary fatty acids. A switch to a vegetarian diet significa ntly alters the intake of fatty acids. Therefore, we have analysed the changes in fatty acid profiles of the plasma phospholipid fraction an d related these changes to disease activity. The concentrations of the fatty acids 20:3n-6 and 20:4n-6 were significantly reduced after 3.5 months with a vegan diet (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.01 respectively), but t he concentration increased to baseline values with a lactovegetarian d iet. The concentration of 20:5n-3 was significantly reduced after the vegan diet (P < 0.0001) and the lactovegetarian diet periods (P < 0.01 ). There was no significant difference in fatty acid concentrations be tween diet responders and diet non-responders after the vegan or lacto vegetarian diet periods. Our results indicate that the changes in the fatty acid profiles cannot explain the clinical improvement.