FATS AND NATURAL KILLER CELL ACTIVITY

References: 17th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM 2017, www.sgem.org, SGEM2017 Conference Proceedings, ISBN 978-619-7408-12-6 / ISSN 1314-2704, 29 June - 5 July, 2017, Vol. 17, Issue 61, 697-702 pp, DOI: 10.5593/sgem2017/61/S25.091

ABSTRACT

Natural Killer (NK) cells are large granular cytotoxic lymphocytes that play a role in the innate immune response against tumour cells and virally infected cells. In pathogen-free chickens, these cells are thermolabile at 37oC and resistant to treatment with anti-B or anti-T cell anti-sera. This is in contrast to humans and rats, where NK cells are resistant to temperature manipulation for 30 or 60 minutes. While some reports suggest that NK cells are adherent and phagocytic, others suggest they are non-adherent and nonphagocytic.
There has been increasing interest in the effect of poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on immune function over the last 30 years. Several studies demonstrated immunosuppressive effects of PUFA, especially the long chain n-3 PUFA, on NK cell cytotoxicity in murine, rats, chickens, and humans. The current paper will shed light on the immunomodulatory effect of n-3 PUFA.

Keywords: Natural killer, lymphocytes, fatty acids