Fig. 2.

Dietary n-3 PUFAs promote CD4⁺ T-cell activation-induced cell death (AICD) only in the presence of HMS (MS). Splenic CD4⁺ T-cells were isolated from mice fed CO- or FO-containing diets for 2 weeks followed by polarization toward Th1 in the presence of HMS or FBS. After 5 days in culture, cells were reactivated with PMA/Ionomycin and assessed for apoptosis by Annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide (PI) staining as described in Experimental Procedures. A: Representative two parameter flow cytometric histograms of HMS- versus FBS-cultured cells. Numbers in each quadrant represent the percentage of cells positive for Annexin V-FITC and/or PI. B: Bars with different letters denote significant differences (P < 0.05). Data represent means ± SEM; n = 6 replicates per diet group, and 4 mice were pooled per analysis.