Slow encephalopathies, inflammatory responses and arachis oil.

There is much interest in the possibility that diets rich in some plant oils may be of prophylactic and curative value in certain clinical conditions. This is generally attributed to the immunosuppressive effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Arachis (peanut) oil injections can increase the incubation period of experimental scrapie in mice. In the late 1950s several workers showed that arachis and some other oils contained very potent anti-inflammatory components quite apart from the polyunsaturated fatty acids. This suggests that the supposed efficacy of these acids in some clinical situations could be due to trace substances rather than the lipid itself and that the apparent ability of scrapie agents to use the host's lymphoreticular system as a Trojan horse may involve elements of the inflammatory system rather than the B/T cell immune system.