The Effect of Long Chain n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Development of Collagen-induced Arthritis in Rats

흰쥐에서 다족쇄 n-3 다불포화지방산이 콜라젠-유도 관절염의 발생에 미치는 영향

Background: The treatment of rheumatoid arthritis still depend on conserve therapy in major. Recent studies report that n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids(PUFA) could modulate the incidence and progress of arthritis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of n-3 PUFA on the development of collagen-induced arthritis in rats. Materials and Methods: Female Louvain rats were used for this experiment. Rats were randomly assigned into either normal (n=8) or collagen-immunized groups, and collagen immunized groups were divided into control(n=8, normal diet) and n-3 PUFA(n=8, 5% n-3 PUFA in diet) groups. One week after feeding n-3 PUFA to rats, they were immunized with type II collagen emulsified in incomplete Freund's adjuvant into tail and back. Development of arthritis was confirmed by x-ray and microscopic examination. Results: Incidence of arthritis at the 5th week after immunization was 38% in control and 0% in n-3 PUFA. Rats with arthritis showed edema in hind paws and inflammation in synovial membrane of the knee joint. Plasma glucose and insulin were not changed by both of immunization and diet. Plasma triglycerides and cholesterol concentrations were decreased by n-3 PUFA. Conclusion: n-3 PUFA may prevent or treat collagen-induced arthritis m rats. Further studies are needed for action mechanism of it.

n-3 불포화지방산이 관절염의 발생 및 경과에 미치는 영향에 대해 알아보고자 Louvain종 흰쥐를 사용하여, 실험군을 정상군과 면역유도 (콜라겐+incomplete Freund's adjuvant)군으로 나누었고, 면역유도군은 다시 대조군 (정상식이) 및 n-3 다불포화지방산군 (식이에 5% n-3 다불포화지방산 함유) 으로 구분하여, 관절염 유도 1 주일전부터 n-3 다불포화지방산이 함유된 식이를 섭취시켰으며 관절염의 발생여부를 x-ray 소견과 광학현미경적 관찰을 통하여 확인하였다. 면역유도 5 주에 대조군의 38%에서 x-ray 소견상 족부종과 광학현미경상 염증소견이 발견되었으나 n-3 다불포화군에서는 이러한 변화가 없었다. 혈당과 혈장 인슐린은 면역유도나 n-3 다불포화지방산 투여에 의한 변화가 없었으나 혈장 중성지방과 콜레스테롤은 n-3 다불포화지방산투여에 의하여 감소하였다. n-3 다불포화지방산의 투여가 콜라젠에 의한 관절염의 발생을 예방 또는 치료할 수 있을 것으로 생각되며 이의 작용기전을 설명하기 위하여 후속 연구가 요망된다.