On June 21, the team of professor Sun Jinpeng of Shandong University and the team of Professor Zhu Yi and Professor Ai Ling of Tianjin Medical University published a research paper "The sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1 mediates the atheroprotective effect of eicosapentaenoic acid" in Nature Metabolism. This study found that fish oil metabolites 17,18-EEQ activated the S1PR1-Gq signaling pathway to mediate EPA's inhibition of endothelial activation and atherosclerosis protection, providing a new idea and strategy for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis.

This study explained the controversial cardiovascular protective effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids from the perspective of metabolites, identified S1PR1 as a receptor for 17,18-EEQ for the first time to participate in its cardiovascular benefits, and emphasized the importance of S1PR1 in mediating the anti-inflammatory and atherosclerotic protective effects of EPA in vivo, providing a new perspective for understanding the vascular endothelial protective mechanism of 17,18-EEQ and providing a new idea for targeting S1PR1-Gq to improve atherosclerosis.