In vitro effect of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids on prostaglandin E2 synthesis in a human lung carcinoma.

The capacity to synthesize both prostaglandins E1 (PGE1) and E2 (PGE2) has been determined in human lung mucoepidermoid carcinoma homogenates when [14C]-fatty acid precursors were added to the incubation medium. Only 10% of the total radioactivity recovered in PGs was found in PGF1 alpha and PGF2 alpha. The experiments were principally focused to inhibit the PGE2 synthesis either with pure eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids or with mixtures of both n-3 fatty acids obtained from fish oil. The results demonstrated that significant inhibitions were found when using 25 microM or a higher concentration of pure EPA or DHA in the incubation medium; however, 5 microM of mixtures of different EPA/DHA ratio caused the same inhibition. The results suggest that EPA and DHA, when added together, may enforce their inhibitory effect on PGE2 synthesis.