Effect of dietary α-linolenate/linoleate balance on lipopolysaccharide-induced tumor necrosis factor production in mouse macrophages

We examined the effect of dietary α-linolenate (18:3n-3) /linoleate (18:2n-6) balance on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) - induced tumor necrosis factor (TNF) production in mouse macrophages. Resident and casein-induced peritoneal macrophages from mice fed a high α-linolenate diet produced a higher amount of TNF than in the high linoleate diet group. However, TNF production was not affected by the dietary α-linolenate/linoleate balance when thioglycollate- and complete Freund's adjuvant-induced macrophages were stimulated with LPS. Serum TNF levels of mice intraperitoneally injected with LPS was also higher in the high α-linolenate group than in the high linoleate group. These diets affected the n-3/n-6 ratios of 20 and 22 carbon highly unsaturated fatty acids in macrophage lipids. Thus, the dietary enrichment with α-linolenate was found to enhance TNF production of macrophages isolated under limited conditions.