Yamashita, AkiKawana, KeiTomio, KensukeTaguchi, AyumiIsobe, YosukeIwamoto, RyoMasuda, KojiFuruya, HitomiNagamatsu, TakeshiNagasaka, KazunoriArimoto, TakahideOda, KatsutoshiWada-Hiraike, OsamuYamashita, TakahiroTaketani, YujiKang, JingKozuma, ShiroArai, HiroyukiArita, MakotoOsuga, YutakaFujii, Tomoyuki2014-03-112013Yamashita, A., K. Kawana, K. Tomio, A. Taguchi, Y. Isobe, R. Iwamoto, K. Masuda, et al. 2013. “Increased tissue levels of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids prevents pathological preterm birth.” Scientific Reports 3 (1): 3113. doi:10.1038/srep03113. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep03113.2045-2322http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:11879175Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) have anti-inflammatory effects. Preterm birth is an important problem in modern obstetrics and one of the main causes is an inflammation. We here showed that abundance of omega-3 fatty acids reduced the incidence of preterm birth induced by LPS with fat-1 mice, capable of converting omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. We also indicated that the gene expression of IL-6 and IL-1β in uteruses and the number of cervical infiltrating macrophages were reduced in fat-1 mice. The analyses of lipid metabolomics showed the high level of 18-hydroxyeicosapentaenoate in fat-1 mice, which was derived from EPA and was metabolized to anti-inflammatory product named resolvin E3 (RvE3). We finally showed that the administration of RvE3 to LPS-exposed pregnant wild type mice lowered the incidence of preterm birth. Our data suggest that RvE3 could be a potential new therapeutic for the prevention of preterm birth.en-USJournal Article2014-03-1110.1038/srep03113