Publication Date:
2015-05-13
Description:
You are what you eat – this well-known phrase properly describes the phenomenon of the effects of diet on acute and chronic inflammation. Several lipids and lipophilic compounds that are delivered with food or are produced in situ in pathological conditions exert immunomodulatory activity due to their interactions with the plasma membrane. This group of compounds includes cholesterol and its oxidized derivatives, fatty acids, α-tocopherol, and polyphenols. Despite their structural heterogeneity, all these compounds ultimately induce changes in plasma membrane architecture and fluidity. By doing this, they modulate the dynamics of plasma membrane receptors, such as TLR4. This receptor is activated by lipopolysaccharide, triggering acute inflammation during bacterial infection, which often leads to sepsis and is linked with diverse chronic inflammatory diseases. In this review, we discuss how the impact on plasma membrane properties contributes to the immunomodulatory activity of dietary compounds, pointing to the therapeutic potential of some of them. Cholesterol, saturated, and trans fatty acids, abundant in “westernized” diet, can impact the architecture of plasma membrane rafts, a process that ultimately potentiates LPS-induced pro-inflammatory signaling of TLR4. A therapeutic effect can be achieved by enrichment of the diet with anti-inflammatory compounds affecting membrane organization, like α-tocopherol, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and polyphenols.
Print ISSN:
0265-9247
Electronic ISSN:
1521-1878
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
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