Fatty acids counteract respiratory responses to low air pollution levels in healthy adults
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Among healthy individuals, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids counteracted respiratory responses to low ambient air pollution levels, researchers reported in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
“Interventional strategies at an individual level, including personal exposure reduction, behavioral change and nutraceutical and pharmacological approaches, can further alleviate the adverse health effects of air pollution,” Haiyan Tong, MD, from the division of public health and integrated toxicology at the Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment at the Office of Research and Development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and colleagues wrote. “Among these interventional approaches, dietary supplementation with polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids has been shown to reduce particulate matter-induced cardiovascular effects.”
The study enrolled 62 healthy adults who were categorized into high (n = 34; mean age, 40 years; 61.8% women) or low (n = 28; mean age, 37 years; 64.3% women) omega-3 fatty acid groups based on omega-3 fatty acid intake and erythrocyte omega-3 fatty acid concentrations. Both omega-6 fatty acid high and low groups were divided based on blood omega-fatty acid levels.
All participants underwent three to five testing sessions separated by at least 1 week where FVC, FEV1, plasma markers of inflammation (IL-6) and oxidative stress were measured. Researchers evaluated the associations between ambient air pollution and particulate matter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) and lung function and blood markers.
Average levels of air pollution and PM2.5 were below the U.S. national ambient air quality standards during the study with 40.8 ppb and 10.2 µg/m3, respectively. Participant FVC was positively associated with ozone at a lag of zero days among those in the high omega-3 group compared with a null association in the low omega-3 group (1.8% vs. 0%). This association became negative at a lag of 4 days (–1.9% vs. 0.2%) and 5 days (–1.2% vs. 0.9%).
Researchers observed a similar pattern among the low omega-6 group compared with the high omega-6 group at a lag of zero days (1.7% vs. 0.5%) and 4 days (–1.4% vs. –0.5%) with similar patterns for associations between FEV1 and ozone and FVC and PM2.5.
Elevated ozone levels were also associated with an immediate decrease in oxidative stress among participants in the high omega-3 group at a lag of zero days, but there was no change among participants in the low omega-3 group (–12.3 vs. –7.5%). In addition, compared with participants in the low omega-3 group, researchers observed a delayed increase in IL-6 among those in the high omega-3 group at a lag of 4 days (8.9% vs. 66.9%), 5 days (–7.4% vs. 58.2%) and 6 days (–8.5% vs. 45.8%).
“The protection provided by omega-3 fatty acids to the respiratory system may be compromised by exposure to air pollution over time in healthy adults, even at low levels, further emphasizing the need to reduce omega-6 fatty acid intake,” the researchers wrote. “Given the growing interest in the role of omega-3 fatty acids in the cardiovascular system, it is important to delve further into their role on lung function in the context of the health effects of air pollution exposure.”