Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Inflammation: Novel Interactions Reveal a New Step in Neutrophil Recruitment
Figure 4
The effects of EPA supplementation on the adhesive behaviour of neutrophils.
(A) EPA supplementation did not affect the number of neutrophils initially adhering to endothelial cells from flow. (B) However, the time course of neutrophil behaviour on TNF-stimulated endothelial cells showed that EPA supplementation drastically altered neutrophil behaviour. Thus, the number of activated and surface adherent neutrophils decreased with time in the presence or absence of EPA. However, on endothelium that had not been supplemented with EPA, this was because neutrophils transmigrated across the monolayer, whereas on EPA-supplemented endothelium this was because activated cells reverted back to a rolling form of adhesion. ANOVA showed that there was a significant effect of treatment (i.e., ±EPA) on the percentage of cells that were rolling, surface adherent, or transmigrated (p<0.01). In addition, there was a significant effect of time on each form of behaviour for the EPA-treated cells (p<0.05−0.01). Bonferroni tests showed significant differences at specific time points as marked; **p<0.01. (C) Inhibition of neutrophil transmigration was evident at levels of EPA supplementation as low as 50 nM. Data are mean±SEM of five experiments. ANOVA showed significant effects of treatment (p<0.05); *p<0.05 compared to untreated control by Dunnett's test. Error bars indicate SEM.