EPA Fights Ocular Inflammation

YOKOHAMA, JapanEicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) may exert multiple anti-inflammatory effects in the eye, helping to address uveitis (Mol Vis. 2010;16:1382-88). A research team coordinated out of the Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine noted while the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) have been shown to exert anti-inflammatory effects in models of systemic inflammation and heart disease, there has not been work showing how EPA could modulate acute ocular inflammation. The team used the endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU) mouse model to determine how EPA affected ocular inflammation.

Six-week-old mice were orally treated with EPA at a dose of 50 mg/kg/d for five days prior to induction of EIU. After 24 hours, the EIU animals treated with oral EPA had a significant decrease (43.4 percent reduction) in leukocyte adhesion to the retinal vessels; leukocyte infiltration into the vitreous cavity by neovascularization was also reduced by 49.2 percent. EPA also significantly reduced protein levels of MCP-1 and IL-6 in the retina and the retinal pigment epithelial (RPE)-choroid complex. In addition, EPA treatment suppressed phosphorylation of NF-kappa-B.

The researchers concluded EPA may have a reciprocal pathway to decrease the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines by regulating recruitment of leukocytes and activation of NF-kB. They noted this appears to be the first in vivo evidence regarding the protective effect of omega-3 LC-PUFAs in retinal inflammation.