Fat intake and fatty acid profile in plasma phospholipids and adipose tissue in patients with Crohn's disease, compared with controls

Objectives: Fatty acid metabolism is involved in the immune response and in flammation processes in patients with Crohn's disease (CD), Fatty acid chan ges may be relevant to the clinical course of the disease, The aim of this study was to compare the qualitative and quantitative fat intake and fatty acid composition of plasma phospholipids and adipose tissue in a defined po pulation of CD patients with those in matched controls. Methods: Dietary fa t intake and fatty acid profile of plasma phospholipids and adipose tissue were assessed in two patient populations: 20 patients with recently diagnos ed CD and 32 patients with longstanding (>10 yr) CD clinically in remission , matched for age and gender with healthy controls. Results: We observed no significant differences in quantitative or qualitative fat intake between CD patients and controls. Percentages of linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid in plasma phospholipids or adipose tissue were not significantly diffe rent between patients and controls. However, we observed a significantly (p < 0.05) lower percentage of the sum of the n-3 fatty acids, with significa ntly (p < 0.01) higher levels of clupanodonic acid (22:5n-3) and significan tly (p < 0.05) lower levels of docosahexaenoic (22:6n-3) and arachidonic ac id (20:4n-6), The aberrant fatty acid profile was more evident in patients with longstanding CD than in patients with recently diagnosed CD, Conclusio n: The aberrant fatty acid profile found in these CD patients is a result o f altered metabolism rather than of essential fatty acid malabsorption, The reported findings may be important in the pathophysiology of CD and hence in the choice of fatty acids to be used when therapeutic supplementation is considered in CD patients. (Am J Gastroenterol 1999;94:410-417. (C) 1999 b y Am. Cell. of Gastroenterology).