The potential effects of omega-3 fatty acids on asthma pathogenesis.

Abstract

Asthma is a chronic lung disorder marked by recurring episodes of airway obstruction accompanied especially by wheezing and coughing and by a sense of constriction in the chest, and triggered by hyperreactivity to various stimuli. Its pathophysiology involves mucus hypersecretion, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, smooth muscle hypertrophy and airway obstruction. Current therapeutic modalities of asthma have not been proved to be successful in reversing the already established chronic changes in airways. Ultimately, an important part of the treatment will aim at immunomodulation and preventing the chronic irreversible changes in asthma. For this reason interventions including dietary changes before the sensitization and remodelling period would be beneficial in terms of preventing those changes. Very long chain fatty acids are the substrates for cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase and give rise to mediators that often have different biological actions or potencies than those formed from arachidonic acid. This paper provides a short synopsis of the immunological pathology of asthma and discusses potential targets for omega-3 fatty acids.