Chemotherapeutic Properties of n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids - Old Concepts and New Insights

Over the past several decades, data from both experimental animal studies and human clinical trials have shown that dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) exhibit anti-inflammatory bioactive properties, compared to n- 6 PUFA. Collectively, these studies have identified multiple mechanisms by which n-3 PUFA affect immune cell responses. In this review, we discuss the putative targets of anti-inflammatory n-3 PUFA, specifically, cytokine production, antagonism of n-6 PUFA metabolism, binding to nuclear receptors as ligands, and the alteration of signaling protein acylation. In addition, we investigate the effect of n-3 PUFA on the coalescence of lipid rafts, specialized signaling platforms in the plasma membrane.