Alleviation of autoimmune disease by dietary lipids containing omega-3 fatty acids.

Dietary marine lipids that are enriched in omega-3, or n-3, fatty acids reduce the severity of autoimmune glomerulonephritis in several inbred murine strains. The protective effect of dietary n-3 fatty acids is also seen with a rat model of immune-complex induced vasculopathy, but no protective effects were seen with autoimmune vasculitis in the MRL/lpr mouse or with type II collagen-induced arthritis in rats. Dietary n-3 fatty acids are potential therapeutic agents for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, but careful clinical trials with the purified forms of n-3 fatty acids are needed to determine the usefulness of this intervention.