Fatty acid composition of phospholipids of plasma and of mononuclear blood cells in children with allergic asthma and the influence of glucocorticoids

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Abstract
Fatty acid (FA) composition of plasma phospholipids and phospholipids extracted from peripheral mononuclear white blood cells (MNC) was investigated in 11 allergic asthmatic children (age 8.9±4.6 years), in 10 age-matched non-allergic healthy controls and in 14 allergic and non-allergic children with an acute attack of asthma, who had received prednisolone medication for 2–4 days. In allergic asthmatics eicosapentaenoic acid (20∶5n−3) was significantly elevated in both plasma and MNC. The relative amount of 20∶5n−3 in MNC as well as in plasma correlated positively with increasing levels of total serum IgE (P<0.02). The pattern of the other FAs in plasma and of MNC phospholipids did not differ between allergic asthmatic and non-allergic control children. In children with an acute attack of asthma, who had been treated with glucocorticoids (2 mg prednisolone/kg body weight for 2–4 days), distinct changes of relative FA composition of phospholipids were restricted to plasma, where some very long chain FA (22∶4n−6, 22∶5n−6) were elevated. No significant changes in FA from MNC phospholipids could be observed after glucocorticoid treatment. These findings may indicate a possible role of 20∶5n−3, the precursor of “group 3” eicosanoids, in allergic asthmatic children.