| The possibility that dietary factors can modulate the immune system is of great interest to health professionals and the public. The n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, PUFA, found in fish oil, have well recognized anti-inflammatory effects. However, there is concern that these might impair resistance to infectious microbes. Herein, we tested the hypothesis that consumption of the n-3 PUFA, docosahexaenoic acid, DHA, interferes with the in vivo immune response to enteric reovirus infection. Mice fed DHA-enriched diets for 4 wks had increased incorporation of DHA and other n-3 PUFA in their membrane phospholipids at the expense of arachidonic acid. Mice fed with DHA-enriched and high-oleic safflower diets were orally infected with reovirus to access antibody production and viral clearance. DHA consumption only transiently interfered with reovirus clearance, but did not affect the humoral responses in the gastrointestinal and systemic compartments or the overall resolution of the intestinal infection. Accordingly, these data are not indicative of a profound impairment of the immune response to reovirus infection. |
