Effect of intravenously infused eicosapentaenoic acid on the leukotriene generation in patients with active Crohn's disease.

Ten patients with active Crohn's disease who have been managed with parenteral-nutrition therapy were administered a lipid emulsion either with [containing 0.6 g eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)] or without fish oil for 2 wk. We isolated polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs) from the patients before and after this treatment and measured the amounts of leukotriene B4 (LTB4) and leukotriene B5 (LTB5) generated by activated PMNLs by reversed-phase HPLC. The LTB5 generation in active Crohn's disease before this treatment was significantly lower than in healthy control subjects. The amount of LTB5 and the LTB5-LTB4 ratio increased significantly after fish-oil supplementation. The difference with LTB4 was not statistically significant. We have shown that daily intravenous administration of 0.6 g EPA influenced the generation of leukotrienes in active Crohn's disease even after short-term treatment. Further investigations are necessary to clarify the correlation between EPA and clinical improvement in Crohn's disease.