Fatty Acids as Useful Serological Markers for Crohn's Disease

The role of fatty acids in patients with Behçet's disease and their association with thrombosis

Behçet's disease (BD) is a systemic disease with unknown etiopathogenesis and varying disease presentations. Fatty acids (FA) are essential biological compounds that are involved in complex metabolic pathways. They may contribute to inflammation and endothelial dysfunction by participating in many signaling pathways. Increased FAs levels are associated with an increased risk for various diseases. This study aimed to determine the relationship between FA, BD, and thrombotic complications. A total of 97 patients were recruited from the rheumatology department of a single center as a case-control study. The participants were divided into three groups: 36 patients with BD with thrombosis (Group 1), 24 patients with BD without thrombosis (Group 2), and 37 age- and sex-matched controls (Group 3). The analysis of 37 different FA with carbon numbers in the range of (4:0) and (24:1) in the samples were analyzed and compared between groups. Myristic acid (MA), methyl eicosatrienoate, and stearic acid (STA) levels were found to be significantly higher in BD with thrombosis than in BD without thrombosis, and palmitic acid (PA) levels were significantly higher in BD with thrombosis than in healthy individuals. MA was found to be a significant marker for differentiating between thrombotic BD. PA and STA are important markers for detecting thrombotic BD. In BD, lipotoxicity created by FA, such as PA, STA, and MA, plays a role as an inducer of inflammation and thrombosis through various mechanisms.

Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activation Limits the Fatty Acid Synthesis and Subsequent "miR-193a-3p-HDAC3-FASN" Signals to Alleviate Intestinal Fibrosis

Intestinal fibrosis is a common complication of Crohn's disease and characterized by excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) detects micronutrients and microbial metabolites in diet and can attenuate intestinal fibrosis with unclear mechanisms. In this study, AhR activation was demonstrated to downregulate the transcription of collagen I and fibronectin in a Sp1- but not Sp3- or AP-1-dependent manner. A suppressed fatty acid synthesis was highlighted using untargeted metabolomics analyses, and synthetic products, palmitic acid (PA), were used as the intermediary agent. After a screening study, fatty acid synthase (FASN) was identified as the main targeted protein, and AhR activation regulated "HDAC3-acetylation" signals but not glycosylation to enhance FASN degradation. Furthermore, results of bioinformatics analysis and others showed that after being activated, AhR targeted miR-193a-3p to control HDAC3 transcription. Collectively, AhR activation inhibited ECM deposition and alleviated intestinal fibrosis by limiting fatty acid synthesis subsequent to the inhibition of "miR-193a-3p-HDAC3-FASN" signals.

Fatty Acids of Erythrocyte Membranes and Blood Serum in Differential Diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Aim: to study fatty acid levels in erythrocyte membranes (RBC) and blood serum (BS) in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) to develop differential diagnostic models including fatty acids as biomarkers to distinguish between nosological entities of IBDs (ulcerative colitis — UC, Crohn's disease — CD, unclassified colitis — UCC).Materials and methods. We examined 110 patients (mean age 37,7 ± 12,1 years) with IBDs and 53 healthy patients in control group (43,3 ± 11,7 years). The IBDs group included 50 patients with UC, 41 patients with CD, 19 patients with UCC. An exacerbation of the disease was revealed in 42 patients (84 %) with UC, 34 patients with CD (82.9 %) and 11 people with UCC (57.9 %). The study of fatty acids (FA) composition of RBC membranes and BS was carried out using GC/MS system based on three Agilent 7000B quadrupoles (USA).Results. The most significant for distinguishing active UC from CD exacerbation were serum levels of elaidin (p = 0.0006); docosatetraenoic (n-6) (p = 0.004); docodienic (n-6) (p = 0.009); omega-3/omega-6 ratio (p = 0.02); docosapentaenoic (n-3) (p = 0.03); the sum of eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic (p = 0.03), as well as the content of RBC lauric FA (p = 0.04) (AUC — 0.89, sensitivity — 0.91, specificity — 0.89, diagnostic accuracy — 0.91). To distinguish active UC from the same of UCC, the following serum FA were found to be significant: alpha-linolenic; saturated (pentadecanoic, palmitic, stearic, arachidic); monounsaturated (palmitoleic, oleic); omega-6 (hexadecadienic, arachidonic) (p = 0.00000011—0.03300000) (AUC — 0.995, sensitivity — 0.98, specificity — 0.96, diagnostic accuracy — 0.97). The most significant in distinguishing patients with active CD from UCC exacerbation were levels of the following FA: alpha-linolenic; palmitoleic; oleic; the amount of saturated fatty acids (SFA); total unsaturated fatty acids (UFA); stearic; monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) amount; SFA/UFA; SFA/PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids); linoleic; total PUFA n6; lauric; arachidic acid (p = 0.0000000017–0.030000000) (AUC — 0.914, sensitivity — 0.90, specificity — 0.87, diagnostic accuracy — 0.91).Conclusion. The study of FA levels in groups with different nosological forms of IBDs using complex statistical analysis, including machine learning methods, made it possible to create diagnostic models that differentiate CD, UC and UCC in the acute stage with high accuracy. The proposed approach is promising for the purposes of differential diagnosis of nosological forms of IBDs.

There Is a Differential Pattern in the Fatty Acid Profile in Children with CD Compared to Children with UC

Background: Crohn’s disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC) are classified as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Currently, an increasing number of studies indicate that the metabolic consequences of IBD may include abnormalities in the fatty acid profile. The aim of this study was to compare fatty acid concentrations in IBD in order to identify differences between CD and UC and differences between the phases of both diseases. Methods: Sixty-three adolescent patients with CD (n = 33) and UC (n = 30) aged 13.66 ± 2.67 and 14.15 ± 3.31, respectively, were enrolled in the study. Analysis was performed by gas chromatography. Results: A statistically significant higher concentration of vaccenic acid was observed in the total UC group relative to total CD. In remission CD relative to active CD, a significantly higher concentration of palmitic acid was shown. Whereas in active CD, significantly higher levels of linoleic acid were observed relative to remission. The UC group had significantly higher lauric acid and gamma-linoleic acid levels in active disease relative to remission. Conclusions: The identified differences between FA levels in UC and CD could potentially be involved in the course of both diseases.

Biological Role of Unsaturated Fatty Acid Desaturases in Health and Disease

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are considered one of the most important components of cells that influence normal development and function of many organisms, both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Unsaturated fatty acid desaturases play a crucial role in the synthesis of PUFAs, inserting additional unsaturated bonds into the acyl chain. The level of expression and activity of different types of desaturases determines profiles of PUFAs. It is well recognized that qualitative and quantitative changes in the PUFA profile, resulting from alterations in the expression and activity of fatty acid desaturases, are associated with many pathological conditions. Understanding of underlying mechanisms of fatty acid desaturase activity and their functional modification will facilitate the development of novel therapeutic strategies in diseases associated with qualitative and quantitative disorders of PUFA.

Plasma Saturated and Monounsaturated Fatty Acids in Behçet's Disease

Background:

Fatty Acid (FA) composition of serum has been associated with many markers of inflammation. In this study, we tried to examine plasma Saturated Fatty Acid (SFA) and Monounsaturated Fatty Acid (MUFA) composition in Behçet's Disease (BD) patients. The associations between the circulating FA levels and some markers of inflammation have also been investigated.

Methods:

This study is a cross-sectional one. In fact, a total of 101 BD patients and healthy controls group of 99 subjects are enrolled. Gas Chromatograph equipped with a Capillary Split/Splitless Injector and flame ionization detector was used to analyze the plasma SFA and MUFA compositions. The high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hsCRP) and fibrinogen levels were measured using standard techniques.

Results:

BD patients had significantly higher proportions of Mystiric Acid (MA), Palmitic Acid (PAM), Palmitoleic Acid (POA) and Stearoyl-CoA Desaturase (SCD)-16, compared to controls.

The results revealed that patients with severe involvements had high levels of POA and total MUFA associated with higher SCD-16 activity compared to those with minor ones. The receiver operator characteristic curve analysis revealed that POA could well discriminate BD patients with severe clinical manifestations. In the bivariate analysis, hsCRP was found to be positively correlated with total SAFA and POA elongase activity index but negatively correlated with SCD-18 activity index. The STA, POA, elongase and SCD-16 activity index are correlated with fibrinogen. On the other hand, the multivariate analysis showed that POA remained associated with higher levels of hsCRP.

Conclusion:

Unfavourable plasma SFA and MUFA profile were reported in BD patients. POA, which is associated with higher plasma hsCRP level, may play a role in the pathogenesis of BD.