Review
Current concepts
Dietary linoleic acid, immune inhibition and
disease
Alastair M Sammon
Department of
Surgery, Level 7, University of Bristol, Bristol Royal Infirmary,
Bristol BS2 8HW, UK
Accepted 2 November
1998
Review of the evidence available in published literature
supports a radical change in viewpoint with respect to disease in countries where maize is the predominant dietary component. In these
countries, the pattern of disease is largely determined by a change in
immune profile caused by metabolites of dietary linoleic acid. High
intake of linoleic acid in a diet deficient in other polyunsaturated
fatty acids and in riboflavin results in high tissue production of
prostaglandin E2, which in turn causes inhibition of the proliferation
and cytokine production of Th1 cells, mediators of cellular immunity.
Tuberculosis, measles, hepatoma, secondary infection in HIV and
kwashiorkor are all favoured by this reduction in cellular immunity.
Diet-associated inhibition of the Th1 subset is a major contributor to
the high prevalence of these diseases found in areas of sub-Saharan
Africa where maize is the staple.
Keywords: maize; linoleic acid; prostaglandin E2; cellular immunity; kwashiorkor; diet
© 1999 by The Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Noda, M., Kawahara, Y., Ichikawa, A., Matoba, Y., Matsuo, H., Lee, D.-G., Kumagai, T., Sugiyama, M.
(2004). Self-protection Mechanism in D-Cycloserine-producing Streptomyces lavendulae: GENE CLONING, CHARACTERIZATION, AND KINETICS OF ITS ALANINE RACEMASE AND D-ALANYL-D-ALANINE LIGASE, WHICH ARE TARGET ENZYMES OF D-CYCLOSERINE. J. Biol. Chem.
279: 46143-46152
[Abstract] [Full Text]
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
- Submit a response
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me when eLetters are posted
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- Citation Map
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Google Scholar
PubMed
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
