Dietary n-3 fatty acids and calorie restriction in autoimmune disease: Influence in different immune compartments

Dietary n-3 fatty acids and calorie restriction are well known immunomodula tory nutrients. Recent data from our laboratory has shown that combining n- 3 fatty acids and calorie restriction is more potent at delaying autoimmune disease in mice than either dietary regimen alone. Interestingly, autoimmu ne disease has some unique effects on lymphocyte subsets and Th-1 (interleu kin-2, interferon-gamma) and Th-2 (interleukin-10 and -5) cytokine and immu noglobulin (IgA and IgE) production when comparing the peripheral blood wit h the spleen, mesenteric lymph nodes and salivary glands. However, regardle ss of the variable changes that occur due to n-6 and n-3 fatty acids, the c ombination of dietary n-3 fatty acids and/or calorie restriction prevents i mmune cell dysregulation. Extensive studies conducted in spleen T-cells hav e shown that diet, in the absence of pharmacologic or genetic manipulation, has a dramatic impact on preventing alterations in apoptosis, memory cell populations, and nuclear factor kappa B activation associated with autoimmu ne disease. The results discussed here also show striking similarities to a ging in healthy mice like reduced interleukin-2 production and increased me mory T-lymphocytes suggesting a clear link between normal aging and the ear ly development of autoimmune disease. Future dietary studies examining seve ral different immune compartments simultaneously are likely to yield exciti ng new data on the impact of diet and drug therapy on autoimmune disorders in various target tissues such as kidney and salivary glands.