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Intravenous injection of tridihomo‐γ‐linolenoyl‐glycerol into mice and its effects on delayed‐type hypersensitivity
Author(s) -
Taki Hirofumi,
Nakamura Norio,
Hamazaki Tomohito,
Kobayashi Masashi
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
lipids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.601
H-Index - 120
eISSN - 1558-9307
pISSN - 0024-4201
DOI - 10.1007/bf02537493
Subject(s) - lecithin , spleen , emulsion , chemistry , glycerol , phospholipid , immune system , medicine , endocrinology , immunology , biochemistry , membrane
Highly purified tridihomo‐γ‐linolenoyl‐glycerol (DGLA‐TG) was emulsified with egg yolk lecithin as a 10% (wt/vol) DGLA‐TG emulsion. We injected 0.05 or 0.5 mL of the emulsion into mice through the tail vein and investigated its effects on the fatty acid composition of spleen cells and on delayed‐type hypersensitivity (DTH) response. At 1 h after the injection, dihomo‐γ‐linolenic acid (DGLA) concentrations were increased significantly in the total phospholipid fraction of spleen cells from 1.21±0.13 mol% to 2.09 ±0.74 mol% ( P <0.02) and 7.95±1.25 mol% ( P <0.001) in the 0.05‐mL and 0.05‐mL groups respectively. Mice, which had already been immunized with sheep red blood cells (SRBC), were challenged by the injection of SRBC into the right‐hind footpad. Intravenous injection into mice with 0.5 mL of the emulsion immediately before the challenge almost completely suppressed DTH response measured by the swelling of the right‐hind footpads 24 h thereafter. This inhibitory effect on the DTH response was significant with as little as 0.05 mL of the emulsion, whereas a soybean oil emulsion was not effective at all. In conclusion, intravenous injection of a DGLA emulsion increased DGLA concentrations in immune cells within 1 h and suppressed the DTH reaction.