you are changing the ratios within fatty acids, and also some of the other nutrients.

Even if you are maintaining the ratios, if you decrease the total fat, you are decreasing the antioxidant load. You also would decrease the lipoproteins in the serum, particularly lipoprotein B and E are significantly inhibitory of the immune cells.

So, any of those two mechanisms could easily account for the increase in IR by the decrease in fat intake on the activity of the immune cells, in addition to eicosanoids that you mentioned.

STEVE GAFFIN: A number of studies show that fish oil omega-3 fatty acids are beneficial, effective against endotoxin shock or gram negative sepsis. Your studies show the opposite general effect, that it is actually immunosuppressive. Can you explain why it should be protective in one case and not beneficial in another?

DARSHAN KELLEY: I think probably fish oils have more than one kind of effect. One is that the inhibitory effect may be mediated through the eicosanoid production, decreasing the production of series-2 eicosanoids. But I think in the beneficial effects, we are talking about in sepsis, that could be the increased production of free radicals that could be harmful to the pathogens. Again, a double-edged sword.