Abstract
The effects of intravenous administration with dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA) on fatty acid com-position in the total phospholipid fraction of plasma and spleen cells, and delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) were investigated. Highly purified triglycerides of DGLA (purity>95%) was emulsified with egg-yolk lecithin as a 10% DGLA emulsion.
Mice were injected with 0.5 ml of the DGLA emulsion through tail veins. In the total phospholipid fraction of plasma and spleen cells, DGLA was significantly increased from 1.93±0.43 mol% to 5.56±0.29 mol % in 3 h, and from 1.05±0.05 mol % to 9.40±2.16 mol % in 6 h, respectively.
Mice were immunized with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) . When those mice were intravenously injected with 0.5 ml of the emulsion at the challenge of SRBC, the DTH response measured 24 h later was almost completely suppressed. This suppressive effect of the emulsion was significant with as little as 0.05 ml of the emulsion. A soybean oil emulsion (Intrali-pid®) was not effective at all.
In conclusion, intravenous injection of the DGLA emulsion increased DGLA concentrations in immune cells in 6 h and reduced the DTH reaction.
