Angel or devil? A number of studies reveal the impact of fatty acids on human health!

June 14, 2019 / Biogen / fatty acids play a key role in human health and disease, but in recent years, scientists have been arguing about the benefits and disadvantages of different fatty acids to the body For this reason, the editor reviewed the latest research progress on the impact of fatty acids on human health, helping you to understand the many effects of fatty acids on human health! 【1】 Science: it is revealed that short chain fatty acids trigger the immune response of plants to bacteria doi: 10.1126/science.aau1279 Like humans and animals, plants can resist pathogens with the help of the immune system However, how do pathogens activate plant cell defense? In a new study, researchers from the University of technology in Munich (tum), Germany, found that receptors in plant cells recognize bacteria through simple building blocks The results were published in the journal Science recently The researchers found that only LPS samples containing some short chain fatty acids could trigger plant immune defense Surprisingly, they found highly adherent free fatty acids in all these active LPS samples After months of experiments, they were able to separate these free fatty acids from LPS "When we finally succeeded in producing highly purified LPS, it was clear that plant cells did not respond to them at all," ranf said! Therefore, it is clear that this immune response is not triggered by LPS, but by these short chain fatty acids "Compared with larger LPS, 3-hydroxy fatty acids are very simple chemical units They are essential for bacteria and are produced in large quantities and integrated into various cell components "The strategy for plant cells to recognize bacteria through these basic building blocks is very complex; bacteria need these 3-hydroxy fatty acids, so they can't avoid the immune response of plants," ranf concluded [2] ajrccm: omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids have opposite effects on children's asthma Doi: 10.1164/rccm.201808-1474oc, published in Journal of respiratory and critical care A new study in the journal Medicine suggests that dietary intake of two fatty acids, omega-3 and omega-6, may have the opposite effect on the severity of asthma in children and may play the opposite role in changing their response to indoor air pollution In the study, Dr Emily P brightam reported that children with higher levels of omega-3 in their diet had less asthma symptoms In contrast, children with higher levels of omega-6 in their diet have more severe asthma "There is increasing evidence that diet, especially omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, may play a role in lung health." Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, soybeans and certain nuts and seeds are thought to be healthy, in part because they promote the elimination of inflammation in the body Omega-6 fatty acids, mainly found in vegetable oils, have a mixed effect on health, but usually promote inflammation Photo source: jneurosci the study included 135 children aged 5-12 with asthma (mean age 9.5 years) Ninety six percent of the children are African Americans and 47 percent are girls About one third of children have mild asthma, a third has mild asthma, and a third has severe asthma Their diet, daily asthma symptoms and asthma medication use were assessed for one week at enrollment, and for another week at three and six months At the same time, the researchers measured two types of household indoor particulate pollution, PM2.5 and PM10, which are known triggers of asthma and lead to exacerbation of symptoms in children with asthma PM2.5 invisible to the naked eye, deep into the lungs, to tiny air bags or alveoli PM10 includes particles larger than PM2.5, but its diameter is still one sixth or less of the width of human hair When inhaled, these larger particles deposit along the airway The study also found that higher levels of omega-6 in children's diets were associated with a higher percentage of neutrophils, a white blood cell associated with inflammation 【3】 Jneurosci: unsaturated fatty acids can protect nerves and reverse nerve injury doi: 10.1523/jneurosci.3173-18.2019 a new study published in jneurosci showed that replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat in diet can reverse nerve injury and restore nerve function in male rats These data indicate that it is necessary to further study the potential of a diet rich in healthy fat for the treatment of diabetic related nerve damage (diabetic neuropathy) Type 2 diabetes is related to a high-fat diet rich in saturated fatty acids Instead, a diet rich in unsaturated fatty acids has been shown to be good for the body So Professor EVA Feldman and colleagues from the University of Michigan studied how these two fatty acids affect the progression of diabetic neuropathy, the most common complication in diabetic patients The researchers found that changing the diet of mice from a saturated fatty acid rich diet to an unsaturated fatty acid rich diet from sunflower oil could repair the neural damage in obese mice and protect their nerves from being damaged Studies on sensory neurons in DRG have shown that unsaturated fatty acids can help neurons maintain normal energy production process These results indicate that targeted dietary fatty acid intervention provides a new treatment for diabetic neuropathy 【4】 Cancer Res: free fatty acids may increase the incidence of obesity related breast cancer in women doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-18-2849, published in the international journal Cancer In the research report, scientists from the University of Illinois found that free fatty acids in the blood seem to enhance the proliferation and growth of breast cancer cells The relevant research results may help explain why the risk of breast cancer in obese women after menopause increases The researchers found that women with breast cancer, overweight or obese women have higher levels of five free fatty acids and glycerin in their blood, which is a by-product of the breakdown of body fat tissue into triglycerides The researchers analyzed blood samples from 37 non obese women, 63 obese women and 21 postmenopausal women who had successfully lost weight in the later stage of obesity The results showed that the level of free fatty acids in the body of obese women would increase significantly, while the level of all fatty acids in the blood of women who lost weight in the later stage of obesity had decreased significantly at the beginning of the study In order to further elucidate the effect of obesity on ER positive cancer cells, researchers have studied a variety of primary tumors in obese women And the metastatic cancer cell line, they found that the cancer cells in the patient's body become very active and proliferative, and the level of fatty acids in the patient's blood also increased significantly The fatty acids in the blood of women seem to make the cancer more aggressive The higher the fatty acid level of cell exposure, the stronger the mTOR signal in the body In previous studies, researchers found that modifying the interaction between the ER positive cells of mTOR signal through an estrogen compound with signal pathway priority can produce a good response on some genes without affecting the reproductive organization of the body, such as inhibiting the accumulation of fat in the liver of mice Tired and so on In the current study, in order to analyze the mechanism of estrogen affecting gene expression, researchers use oleic acid to treat one group of breast cancer cells, while oleic acid and estrogen are combined to treat another group of breast cancer cells The results show that oleic acid can increase the expression of special genes, which participate in cell proliferation and can down regulate the expression of about 500 genes These genes contain genes related to fatty acid metabolism and cell adsorption; however, these effects will be significantly reduced in cells treated with oleic acid and estrogen, and later researchers will further study and clarify the molecular mechanism 【5】 JCI insight: Omega-3 fatty acids can effectively inhibit the occurrence of multiple adverse pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.125436 recently, a study report published in the international journal JCI insight, scientists from Columbia University found that the special compounds in fish oil can effectively inhibit common oral bacteria The pregnancy complications of mice include premature delivery, neonatal death and stillbirth Photo source: http://cn.bing.com previously, researchers found that inflammation of the uterus related to Fusobacterium nucleatum often brings adverse pregnancy outcomes to pregnant women In order to prevent such adverse consequences, researchers need to determine the cause of infection Using the mouse model, the researchers injected the bacteria into the mouse three months after pregnancy As they predicted, the bacteria invaded the mouse's uterus The researchers found that the bacteria could induce the inflammatory reaction of mouse placenta endothelial cells, leading to premature birth of mice When there is a special immune protein in the endothelial cells of pregnant mice, the body's inflammatory response will occur In pregnant mice without this protein, there are few mouse pups die This shows that the inflammatory response induced by this protein is very important to promote the occurrence of premature delivery The results show that omega-3 fatty acids can effectively inhibit the inflammatory response and bacterial growth in pregnant mice, and reduce the risk of premature delivery, abortion and stillbirth The researchers hope to conduct clinical trials later to test whether omega-3 fatty acids can effectively inhibit the infection of Fusobacterium nucleatum in the womb of pregnant women and the adverse pregnancy outcome Finally, the researchers said that the dose of omega-3 fatty acids used in this study is much higher than the recommended dose of the population, and they need to conduct more in-depth research in the later stage The results of this study do not support the change of omega-3 fatty acid intake dose in clinical practice 【6】 Nature: fatty acids may promote the tolerance of cancer cells to therapy doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-0904-1 Fatty acid metabolism is an important process of tumor growth and proliferation Although scientists try to block fatty acid metabolism as a therapeutic strategy to inhibit tumor size and growth, the prognosis of patients is often poor Recently, a research report published in the international journal Nature, scientists from the University of Leuven in Belgium found that specific Cancer cells may use a previously unknown alternative pathway to produce fatty acids The results may explain why specific cancer types are resistant to the inhibition of fatty acid metabolism At the same time, researchers hope to develop new therapeutic strategies to effectively treat cancer If a tumor wants to grow and proliferate, it needs to build basic structural elements, including making DNA by using nucleotides, and making cell boundaries by using fatty acids (such as cell membranes) Many cancer cells will up regulate metabolic reactions, thus increasing the production of nucleotides and fatty acids Current therapies can focus on inhibiting the production of nucleotides and fatty acids, thus blocking the tumor Growth, and this strategy has been proved to be successful under the condition of nucleotide metabolism For example, chemotherapy agents (such as 5FU and methotrexate) used in current cancer therapy can inhibit tumor growth by targeting the production of nucleotides However, they cannot successfully inhibit the metabolism of fatty acids