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Fat for Healing the Heart

by Himabindu Venkatakrishnan on Jul 22 2014 12:25 PM

 Fat for Healing the Heart
Excess dietary fat is known to cause heart problems, but the right kind of fat helps keep the heart healthy, as revealed in a paper published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.
Unsaturated dietary fatty acids, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), are known to protect against cardiovascular diseases. However, the mechanism and the specific fat metabolites responsible for this protection were unknown.

A group of Japanese scientists now show that mice engineered to produce their own EPA are protected against heart disease and have improved cardiac function. One particular EPA metabolite, called 18-hydroxyeicosapentaenoic acid (18-HEPE), was required for this protection. 18-HEPE was produced by immune cells called macrophages, which dampened inflammation and fibrosis in the heart. Treatment with 18-HEPE confirmed its heart-protective effects.

A diet enriched in 18-HEPE might thus help prevent heart failure in patients with cardiovascular diseases.

Source-Eurekalert


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