Abstract
Environmental pollution is a current area of focus worldwide, particularly heavy metal pollution. Feasible prevention or therapeutic strategies are required. Exploration of the correlation between ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFAs) and intestinal epithelial cells injured by heavy metals may be of significance for intestinal health. In the present study, the effects of ω-3 PUFAs on the rat intestinal crypt cell line (IEC-6) injured by heavy metals and its mechanisms were determined according to the evaluation of cell viability and expression levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), epidermal growth factor (EGF) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). The results demonstrated that ω-3 PUFAs can improve the viability of IEC-6 cells injured by heavy metals and the expression level of ROS was correlated with oxidative damage; the increased expression level of inflammatory factors is associated with cell apoptosis. In the present study, ω-3 PUFAs significantly decreased the expression levels of ROS, EGF and IL-6. This indicates that the protective action of ω-3 PUFAs was associated with a decrease of oxidative damage and pro-inflammatory cytokine expression against the damage of heavy metals.