Effect of fish oil enriched enteral diet on inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's Disease

ISSN 1007-9327 CN 14-1219/R World J Gastroenterol 2005 December 21;11(47):7466-7472

Effect of fish oil enriched enteral diet on inflammatory bowel disease tissues in organ culture: Differential effects on ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease

Doris Meister, Subrata Ghosh, Gastrointestinal Unit, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, United Kingdom

Correspondence to: Professor Subrata Ghosh, MD (Edin.), FRCP, FRCP(E), Imperial College London, Hammersmith Campus, Du Cane Road, London W12 0NN, United Kingdom. s.ghosh@imperial.ac.uk

Telephone: +44-20-8383-3266 Fax: +44-20-8749-3436
Received: 2005-03-29 Accepted: 2005-06-02

Abstract

AIM: To investigate the influence of fish oil enriched enteral diet on intestinal tissues taken from Crohn’s disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) and non-inflamed non-IBD control patients in vitro.

METHODS: Colonoscopic biopsies from patients with active CD (n = 4), active UC (n = 7), and non-inflamed non-IBD control patients (n = 4) were incubated (three dilutions of 1:20, 1:10, and 1:5) with Waymouth’s culture medium and enteral elemental diet (EO28, SHS, Liverpool, UK) modified in the fatty acid composition with fish oil (EF) in an organ culture system for 24 h. In each experimental set-up, incubation with Waymouth's medium alone as control was included. Tissue viability was assessed by adding bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) to the culture fluid and immunohistochemically staining for BrdU uptake. Cytokine ratio of IL-1ra/IL-1b (low ratio indicative of inflammation) and production of those cytokines as a percentage of medium control were assayed in the culture supernatant.

RESULTS: Incubation of CD-affected tissue with EF (1:20, 1:10, and 1:5) modestly and non-significantly increased IL-1ra/IL-1b ratio as compared with medium control (CD 39.1±16.1; 26.5±7.8, 47.1±16.8 vs control 13.0±2.2), but incubation of UC-affected tissues increased IL-1ra/IL-1b ratio significantly in all three dilutions (UC 69.1±32.2, P<0.05; p =" 0.05;" color="#ff6600">

CONCLUSION: IBD tissues, after incubation with elemental diet modified in its fatty acid composition with fish oil, show an increase in IL-1ra /IL-1b cytokine ratio. This effect of w-3 fatty acid modulation is significantly more marked in UC compared with CD and is accompanied by both a reduction of IL-1β and increase of IL-1ra. The positive direct anti-inflammatory effect of elemental diet with fish oil in tissue affected with UC suggests dietary treatment of UC may be possible.

© 2005 The WJG Press and Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Key words: Inflammatory bowel disease; w-3 fatty acids; Cytokine ratio; IL-1ra/IL-1b; In vitro

Meister D, Ghosh S. Effect of fish oil enriched enteral diet on inflammatory bowel disease tissues in organ culture: Differential effects on ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

World Journal of Gastroenterology