BCFA-enriched vernix-monoacylglycerol reduces LPS-induced inflammatory markers in human enterocytes in vitro

BACKGROUND: Excess vernix caseosa produced by the fetal skin appears as particles suspended in the amniotic fluid in late gestation, is swallowed by the fetus, and is found throughout the newborn gastrointestinal tract as the first organisms are arriving to colonize the gut. Lipid-rich vernix contains an unusually high 29% blanched chain fatty acids (BCFA). BCFAs reduce the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis in an animal model, and were recently found predominantly in the sn-2 position of human milk triacylglycerols. Nothing is known about the influence of vernix BCFA on proinflammatory markers in human enterocytes. METHODS: We investigated the effect of vernix- monoacylglycerides (MAGs) (enriched with 30% BCFA) on interleukin (IL)-8 and NF-kappa B production in a human intestinal epithelial cell line (Caco-2). Caco-2 cells were pretreated with veinix-MAG or vernix-free fatty acid (FFA) prior to lipopoly- saccharide (LPS) activation. RESULTS: Both vernix-MAG and vernix-FFA increased cell BCFA and eliminated an LPS-induced 20% reduction in cell viability. In stimulated Caco-2 cells, vernix-MAG was more effective than vernix-FFA in suppressing IL-8 and NF-kappa B. Activated vernix-MAG-treated cells expressed less of the cell-surface Toll-like receptor4 (TLR-4) compared with controls. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to show the reduction of proinflammatory markers in human cells mediated by BCFA-MAG.