Effects of dietary n-3/n-6 fatty acid content on post-operative adhesions in myocardial infarction mice

Summary: Background and aim: Adhesions after thoracic surgery led to more difficult sternal re-entry and surgical dissection, blunted visibility of mediastinal tissues, potential injury to cardiovascular structures, an increased risk of surgical bleeding, and more time-consuming procedures.Recent molecular and cell biology studies have shown that n-3 unsaturated fatty acids exert pleiotropic effects on vascular endothelial cells, inflammatory cells, and platelets, suppress lesion formation and plaque instability, prevent recurrence of vascular events and cardiac death in patients with ischemic heart disease. Since around 2010′, attention has been focused on the n-3 fatty acids and DHA of edible “seaweed oil” extracted from algae. However, no previous studies have reported how dietary containing marine algae oil and nutritional oral taking habits affect post-operative adhesions.The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of diets with different n-3/n-6 fatty acid content on adhesions in thoracic cavity. Methods: Four-week-old mice were randomly divided into three groups and housed in separate cages. The groups of animals were continuously provided with three different diets for 1 month (the Control group (n=4), DHA-containing “marine algae oil” diet; the DHA group (n=4), the HF group (n=5)). MI model mice were induced by a trained animal surgical expert. After operation, evaluated items were 1) body weight, 2) echocardiography for cardiac function, and 3) adhesions. Evaluations of 1) and 2) were performed before MI preparation, 1 day, and 7 days after MI, and assessment of 3) was evaluated the adhesion at 7 days after MI. Results: The results were 1) there were no significant differences in body weight among the three groups, 2) cardiac function in the HF group tended to deteriorate, and on post-operative day 7, the DHA group tended to deteriorate less than the Control group and 3) adhesions tended to be worse in the HF group and mild in the DHA group. Conclusion: Adhesions tended to be the worst in the HF group and mild in the DHA group. The results in this study indicated that the type of diet affects adhesion levels following MI.