Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), a heterogeneous syndrome of hypoxic respiratory failure secondary to dysregulated pulmonary inflammation, is caused by diverse insults. This heterogeneity presents challenges for mechanistic and therapeutic research, as evidenced by conflicting results from trials of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplementation for ARDS. PUFAs and downstream oxylipins are important to pulmonary inflammation but are not well defined in ARDS. We hypothesized that differences in fatty acid metabolism, as measured by levels of n-3 and n-6 PUFAs and oxylipins, are associated with differences in ARDS outcomes, inflammation, and causes. To test this, PUFAs/oxylipins were measured by LC MS/MS in plasma samples from 90 patients with ARDS. Pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines IL-6 and IL-8 were measured by ELISA. Multivariable linear regressions modeled the relationship between PUFAs/oxylipins, inflammation, and ARDS mortality, severity, and cause. Multiple n-3 and n-6 PUFA-derived oxylipins were decreased in severe ARDS. We did not detect differences in PUFAs/oxylipins by mortality. PUFAs/oxylipins varied by cause of ARDS, especially between patients with sepsis and those with trauma. Furthermore, specific oxylipins were associated with IL-6 and IL-8. As we observed that oxylipins varied by disease severity and underlying cause, these metabolites may function as biomarkers and suggest dysregulated mechanisms of lung repair. Furthermore, while oxylipins are derived from PUFAs, differences in PUFAs did not directly correlate with changes in oxylipins, suggesting altered lipid metabolism as a mechanism. Further consideration of differences in lipid metabolism in ARDS could identify subgroups with differential responses to n-3 PUFA supplementation or other therapies.
Leuenberger et al. (Wed,) studied this question.