Blood Platelet Insulin sensitivity in Atherogenic Dieted Rabbits Fed Fish Oils with Comparable Eicosapentanoic Acid Content

Abstract

The effects of two fish oils added to an atherogenic diet fed to New Zealand strain, male rabbits were studied for 9 weeks. Cod liver oil (CLO) containing 8–10% eicosapentaneoic acid (EPA) or MaxEPA, a concentrated mix of sardine and anchovie oil, with 18–20%EPA, was added to the atherogenic diet (AD) of 2% Cholesterol, 6% Corn Oil and 92% Purina Rabbit Chow and fed to the two experimental animal groups. There were 3 groups of 5 rabbits in the study: an ADC control group fed AD alone, an AD/CLO group fed AD with 8% CLO added and an AD/MaxEPA group fed AD with 4% MaxEPA. Blood Plasma Cholesterol assay mean values were 862mg/dl for ADC, 549mg/dl for AD/CLO and 781mg/dl in AD/MaxEPA animals and for blood platelets were 461mg/dl for ADC, 277mg/dl in AD/ CLO and 440mg/dl in AD/MaxEPA platelets. Plasma plasminogen activator activity (PAA) assays yielded mean %fibrinolysis values of 17.4% in ADC, 20.2% in AD/CLO and 18.2 %. in AD/ MaxEPA plasma . Platelet insulin sensitivity assays found glucose levels of 285.8mg% in ADC, 345.3 mg% in AD/CLO and 342.6 mg% in AD/MaxEPA platelets. Insulin sensitivity increased comparably in platelets of rabbits fed AD/CLO or AD/MaxEPA with the same EPA content. Both fish oils yielded moderately reduced blood plasma and platelet cholesterol and increased blood PAA compared to ADC tissues. At autopsy, aortae from rabbits fed AD/CLO or AD/ MaxEPA showed reduced atherosclerotic plaque development vs. ADC aortae. Funded by Louisiana Heart Association