Multi-omic analysis in transgenic mice implicates omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid imbalance as a risk factor for chronic disease

An unbalanced increase in dietary omega-6 (n-6) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and decrease in omega-3 (n-3) PUFA in the Western diet coincides with the global rise in chronic diseases. Whether n-6 and n-3 PUFA oppositely contribute to the development of chronic disease remains controversial. By...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communications biology 2019-07, Vol.2 (1), p.276-276, Article 276
Main Authors: Kaliannan, Kanakaraju, Li, Xiang-Yong, Wang, Bin, Pan, Qian, Chen, Chih-Yu, Hao, Lei, Xie, Shanfu, Kang, Jing X
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biology
Chronic Disease
Chronic illnesses
Diet
Fatty acids
Fatty Acids, Omega-3 - metabolism
Fatty Acids, Omega-6 - metabolism
Feces
Gastrointestinal Microbiome
Intestinal microflora
Liver cancer
Metabolic disorders
Metabolites
Mice
Mice, Transgenic
Microbiomes
Phenotypes
Polyunsaturated fatty acids
Risk Factors
Transgenic animals
Transgenic mice
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Summary:An unbalanced increase in dietary omega-6 (n-6) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and decrease in omega-3 (n-3) PUFA in the Western diet coincides with the global rise in chronic diseases. Whether n-6 and n-3 PUFA oppositely contribute to the development of chronic disease remains controversial. By using transgenic mice capable of synthesizing PUFA to eliminate confounding factors of diet, we show here that alteration of the tissue n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio leads to correlated changes in the gut microbiome and fecal and serum metabolites. Transgenic mice able to overproduce n-6 PUFA and achieve a high tissue n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio exhibit an increased risk for metabolic diseases and cancer, whereas mice able to convert n-6 to n-3 PUFA, and that have a lower n-6/n-3 ratio, show healthy phenotypes. Our study demonstrates that n-6 PUFA may be harmful in excess and suggests the importance of a low tissue n-6/n-3 ratio in reducing the risk for chronic diseases.
ISSN:2399-3642
2399-3642
DOI:10.1038/s42003-019-0521-4