The Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on MatrixMetalloproteinase-9 Production and Cell Migration in Human Immune Cells: Implications forMultiple Sclerosis Lynne Shinto,1 GailMarracci,2 Lauren Bumgarner,1 and Vijayshree Yadav1, 2
1Department of Neurology, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, CR 120, Portland, OR 97239, USA 2Research Division, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Portland, OR 97239, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Lynne Shinto, shintol@ohsu.edu Received 2 April 2011; Accepted 23 May 2011 Academic Editor: D. N. Bourdette Copyright © 2011 Lynne Shinto et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
In multiple sclerosis (MS), compromised blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity contributes to inflammatory T cell migration into the central nervous system. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is associated with BBB disruption and subsequent T cell migration into the CNS. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on MMP-9 levels and T cell migration. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from healthy controls were pretreated with two types of omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Cell supernatants were used to determine MMP-9 protein and activity levels. Jurkat cells were pretreated with EPA and DHA and were added to fibronectin-coated transwells to measure T cell migration. EPA and DHA significantly decreased MMP-9 protein levels, MMP-9 activity, and significantly inhibited human T cell migration.
The data suggest that omega-3 fatty acids may benefit patients with multiple sclerosis by modulating immune cell production of MMP-9