POLYUNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS (PUFAS) ARE SUBSTANTIAL PART OF OUR DIET AND ARE CONSUMED BY THE WHOLE POPULATION ALMOST EVERY DAY: THE Ω-6 PUFA LINOLEIC ACID (LA, 18:2Ω-6) IS A MAJOR COMPONENT OF VEGETABLE OIL, AND THE Ω-3 PUFAS EICOSAPENTAENOIC ACID (EPA, 20:5Ω-3) AND DOCOSAHEXAENOIC ACID (DHA, 20:6Ω-3) ARE MAJOR COMPONENTS OF FISH OIL. RICH IN POLYUNSATURATED FATS, BOTH Ω-6 AND Ω-3 PUFAS ARE HIGHLY PRONE TO OXIDATION. OUR PRELIMINARY DATA SUPPORTS THAT OXIDIZED Ω-3/Ω-6 PUFAS, EVEN AT LOW OXIDATIVE STATUS, COULD CAUSE ADVERSE EFFECTS ON GUT MICROBIOTA AND GUT HEALTH. IN THIS APPLICATION, WE WILL TEST OUR HYPOTHESIS THAT DIETARY INTAKE OF OXIDIZED Ω-3/Ω-6 PUFAS, EVEN AT LOW OXIDATIVE STATUS (WITHIN THE CURRENT INDUSTRY LIMIT FOR OXIDATIVE STATUS OF VEGETABLE OR FISH OIL), PERTURBS GUT MICROBIOTA, RESULTING IN INCREASED COLONIC INFLAMMATION AND ASSOCIATED DISEASES. USING GENETICALLY ENGINEERED MOUSE MODEL, 16S RRNA SEQUENCING, FECAL TRANSPLANT IN GERM-FREE MICE, WE WILL MECHANISTICALLY STUDY THE EFFECTS OF OXIDIZED PUFAS ON GUT MICROBIOTA AND GUT HEALTH.

University Of Massachusetts, Amherst MA

Investigators