AUTHOR=Li Xiaoxi , Bi Xinyun , Wang Shuai , Zhang Zongmeng , Li Fanghong , Zhao Allan Z. 

TITLE=Therapeutic Potential of ω-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Human Autoimmune Diseases

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2019

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2019.02241

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2019.02241

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=The recognition of ω-3 polyunsaturated acids(PUFAs) as essential fatty acids to normal growth and health was realized more than 80 years ago. However, the awareness of the long-term nutritional intake of ω-3 PUFAs in lowering the risk of a variety of chronic human diseases has grown exponentially only since 1980s. Despite the overwhelming epidemiological evidence, many attempts of using fish-oil supplementation to intervene human diseases have generated conflicting and often ambiguous outcomes; null or weak supporting conclusions were derived in the subsequent META analysis. Different dosages as well as the sources of fish-oil may have contributed to the conflicting outcomes of intervention carried out at different clinics. However, over the past decade，mounting evidence derived from genetic mouse models and clinical studies has shed new light on the functions and the underlying mechanisms of ω-3 PUFAs and their metabolites in the prevention and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and neurological diseases. In this review, we have systematically summarized the current understanding of the effects as well as the underlying mechanisms of ω-3 PUFAs on autoimmune diseases.