Modulation in vitro of human natural cytotoxicity, lymphocyte proliferative response to mitogens and cytokine production by essential fatty acids

Abstract

Essential fatty acids (EFA) have been shown in animal studies to have a differential effect on various aspects of immune reactivity. However, there have been few studies in humans. Therefore, we elected to investigate the effects of a variety of EFA [ gamma‐linolenic acid (GLA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)] in vitro on human blood lymphocyte reactivity, cytokine secretion and natural cytotoxicity. The proliferative response to polyclonal mitogens (phytohaemagglutinin, pokeweed mitogen, concanavalin A), as measured by [³H]thymidine incorporation into newly synthesized lymphocytes, was inhibited (PPin vitro. Our findings demonstrate that EFAs (GLA, EPA, DHA) have the potential to inhibit significantly various aspects of human lymphocyte cell‐mediated and humoral immune reactivities.