Combined effects of vitamin E and omega-3 fatty acids on protecting ambient PM 2.5 -induced cardiovascular injury in rats.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to observe whether the combined treatment with vitamin E (vit E) and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (Ω-3 FA) could prevent the fine particulate matter (PM2.5 )-induced cardiovascular injury through alleviating inflammation and oxidative stress. At the same time, the appropriate combination dosage of vit E and Ω-3 FA was explored to find an optimized protective dose to protect the injury induced by PM2.5 .

METHODS: The SD rats were pretreated with different concentration of vit E and Ω-3 FA separately or jointly. Then the rats were exposed to ambient PM2.5 by intratracheal instillation for three times. The expression of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) in serum and supernatant of cardiac tissue were detected by ELISA kits. The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide Dismutase (SOD) and glutathione-peroxidase (GSH-Px) in myocardium and the level of MDA in serum were measured. Meanwhile, the cardiac injury was evaluated by histopathological examination.

RESULTS: Compared with the severe injury of rats in PM2.5 exposure group, the rats in vit E or Ω-3 FA-pretreated groups had a slighter injury in heart. Meanwhile, pretreatment with vit E or Ω-3 FA induced a significantly alleviation of the inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6) and the elevation of the anti-oxidative activity especially in the rats pretreated with combined vit E and Ω-3 FA. In addition, the combined protecting effects of vit E and Ω-3 FA showed a dose-dependent manner.

CONCLUSION: Supplementation with vit E and Ω-3 FA could protect the PM2.5 -induced injury, and the combination of vit E and Ω-3 FA might produce more effective effects than the separate nutrient did.