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.

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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