Effects of dietary γ-linolenic acid-enriched evening primrose seed oil on the 5-lipoxygenase pathway of neutrophil leukocytes in patients with atopic dermatitis

The present study attempted to determine the effect of dietary supplementation with evening primrose seed oil (EPO) enriched with γ-linolenic acid (GLA, 18:3n-6) on the synthesis of proinflammatory 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) metabolites of arachidonic acid (AA, 20:4n-6) by human peripheral neutrophils in adults with atopic dermatitis (AD). After incubation of neutrophils with calcium ionophore A-23187 (10 μM) the 5-LOX products were separated and quantified by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The results demonstrated that neutrophils of AD patients without therapy generated significantly less LTB4 (P 0.01) and 5-HETE (P < 0.05) was revealed in AD patients after 12 weeks of daily ingestion of 6 g EPO, equivalent to 0.48 g GLA per day, compared with untreated patients (LTB4 609 ± 173 pmol/107 cells vs 390 ± 84 pmol/107 cells and 5-HETE 1463 ± 418 pmol/107 cells vs 9...