ABSTRACT
Omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), such as α-linolenic and linoleic acids, are essential fatty acids in mammals, because they cannot be synthesized de novo. However, fat-1 transgenic mice can synthesize omega-3 PUFAs from omega-6 PUFAs without dietary supplementation of omega-3, leading to abundant omega-3 PUFA accumulation in various tissues. In this study, we used fat-1 transgenic mice to investigate the role of omega-3 PUFAs in response to inflammatory pain. A high omega-3 PUFA tissue content attenuated formalin-induced pain sensitivity, microglial activation, inducible nitric oxide synthase expression, and the phosphorylation of NR2B, a subunit of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. Our findings suggest that elevated omega-3 PUFA levels inhibit NMDA receptor activity in the spinal dorsal horn and modulate inflammatory pain transmission by regulating signal transmission at the spinal dorsal horn, leading to the attenuation of chemically induced inflammatory pain.