Eicosapentaenoic Acid Suppresses Ocular Inflammation in Endotoxin-Induced Uveitis

Abstract

Purpose: : Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), one representative of n-3 unsaturated fatty acids, is clinically used for its lipid-lowering effects in patient with hyperlipidemia. Recently, it has been reported that EPA may also provide anti-inflammatory effects in the body. However, the effect of EPA in ocular inflammatory disease still remains unclear. In this study, we investigate the therapeuitic effect of EPA on ocular inflammation in endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU) animals.

Methods: : C57/B6 mice (6 week-old male) were orally treated with EPA at the dose of 50mg/kg for 5 days. Subsequently, EIU was induced by intraperitoneal injection of 100 micro g LPS in the animals. Twenty-four hours after LPS injection, leukocyte adhesion to the retinal vasculature was evaluated with the concanavalin A lectin perfusion-labeling technique. Retinal protein leveles expression of intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 and monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1 were examined by Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) .

Results: : At 24 hrs after LPS injection, the EIU animals treated with oral EPA administration showed a significant decrease in leukocyte adhesion to the retinal vessels by 43.4 % compared with vehicle-treated animals (182±42 cells vs. 103±31 cells, P <0.01). In addition, the EIU animals treated with EPA showed a significant decrease in retinal ICAM-1 and MCP-1 expression, which were upregulated by LPS treatment, by 48.4 % , respectively.

Conclusions: : EPA suppressed leukocyte adhesion and protein expression levels of inflammatory molecules in the EIU model. These data suggest a potent therapeutic effect of EPA in the treatment of ocular inflammatory disease such as uveitis.

Keywords: inflammation • uveitis-clinical/animal model • eicosanoids