Dietary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Modulate Resistance to
Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Guinea Pigs." Evidence in support of this hypothesis comes from epidemiological studies
of
Greenlanders and Alaskan Eskimos, who despite consuming diets rich in
fish oil (FO) containing (n-3) fatty acids, exhibit an unusually low incidence of
cardiovascular and other inflammatory diseases but an
unusually high frequency
of TB infection. ''
'' evidence consistent with these epidemiological observations is provided
by experimental data from (n-3) PUFA-fed guinea pigs infected via the i.m. route
with virulent M. tuberculosis. Pronounced progression of disease and higher
bacterial counts in the spleen were observed in (n-3) PUFA-fed guinea pigs
compared with guinea pigs consuming diets enriched in SFA or (n-6) PUFA.
Increased susceptibility to other intracellular pathogens, including Listeria and
Salmonella, in (n-3) PUFA-fed animals has also been reported. "
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2635522/Transgenic mice enriched in omega-3 fatty acids are more susceptible
to pulmonary tuberculosis: impaired resistance to tuberculosis in fat-1 mice.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4421876/ Personally, the key reason for my consumption of n-3, is to attempt to balance out the extremely high ratio of n-6:n-3 in my existing diet.
I still find my n-6 to be higher, but at least the ratio has been brought down significantly.