Autoxidation of tissue lipids. I. Incorporation of dietary fatty acids and formation of monocarbonyl compounds in adipose tissue lipids of the vitamin E‐deficient rat

Abstract

Male weanling rats were fed vitamin E-deficient and vitamin E-supplemented diets containing 5% corn oil or cod-liver oil for 16 weeks, after which their adipose tissue lipids were extracted and analyzed in a nitrogen atmosphere for carbonyl compounds and fatty acids.The vitamin E-deficient cod-liver oil-fed rats, exhibiting incisor depigmentation and darkened adipose tissue, yielded lipids which had a lower iodine value, contained less polyunsaturated fatty acids, and contained more carbonyl compounds, particularly alkanals and alk-2-enals, than the lipids from the animals fed the vitamin E-supplemented cod-liver oil diet. The tissues of the vitamin E-deficient corn oil-fed rats contained less linoleate and more monocarbonyl compounds than those of the vitamin E-supplemented corn oil-fed animals.The results indicate that vitamin E protection is necessary for the incorporation of C(20) and C(22) fatty acids into the tissues from the diet and that in the deficiency of vitamin E, a low level of autoxidation occurs in the tissues.