The effect of different sources of fish and camelina sativa oil on immune cell and adipose tissue mRNA expression in subjects with abnormal fasting glucose metabolism: a randomized controlled trial

Background/Objectives Molecular mechanisms linking fish and vegetable oil intakes to their healthy metabolic effects may involve attenuation of inflammation. Our primary aim was to examine in a randomized controlled setting whether diets enriched in fatty fish (FF), lean fish (LF) or ALA-rich camelina sativa oil (CSO) differ in their effects on the mRNA expression response of selected inflammation-related genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) in subjects with impaired fasting glucose. Subjects/Methods Samples from 72 participants randomized to one of the following 12-week intervention groups, FF (n = 19), LF (n = 19), CSO (n = 17) or a control group (n = 17), were available for the PBMC study. For SAT, 39 samples (n = 8, n = 10, n = 9, n = 12, respectively) were available. The mRNA expression was measured at baseline and 12 weeks by TaqMan® Low Density Array. Results In PBMCs, LF decreased ICAM1 mRNA expression (P P = 0.06, Bonferroni correction) from the observed increase in the FF group (P ICAM1 mRNA expression (P ICAM1 mRNA expression correlated positively with the intake of FF (P P IFNG mRNA expression (P IFNG mRNA expression in PBMCs (P = 0.08). In SAT, when compared with the control group, the effect of FF on decreasing IL1RN mRNA expression was significant (P Conclusion We propose that CSO intake may partly exert its benefits through immuno-inflammatory molecular regulation in PBMCs, while modulation of ICAM1 expression, an endothelial/vascular-related gene, may be more dependent on the type of fish consumed.