Dietary Alpha-Linolenic Acid Supports High Retinal DHA Levels.

Andrew J Sinclair,Lavinia Abedin,Xiao-Fei Guo

doi:10.3390/nu14020301

Andrew J Sinclair, Lavinia Abedin + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14020301

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Journal: Nutrients	Publication Date: Jan 12, 2022
Citations: 6	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Monash University, RMIT University, Qingdao University

Abstract

The retina requires docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) for optimal function. Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and DHA are dietary sources of retinal DHA. This research investigated optimizing retinal DHA using dietary ALA. Previous research identified 19% DHA in retinal phospholipids was associated with optimal retinal function in guinea pigs. Pregnant guinea pigs were fed dietary ALA from 2.8% to 17.3% of diet fatty acids, at a constant level of linoleic acid (LA) of 18% for the last one third of gestation and retinal DHA levels were assessed in 3-week-old offspring maintained on the same diets as their mothers. Retinal DHA increased in a linear fashion with the maximum on the diet with LA:ALA of 1:1. Feeding diets with LA:ALA of 1:1 during pregnancy and assessing retinal DHA in 3-week-old offspring was associated with optimized retinal DHA levels. We speculate that the current intakes of ALA in human diets, especially in relation to LA intakes, are inadequate to support high DHA levels in the retina.

Highlights

Wheeler et al [3] showed that the electrical response of the photoreceptor cell was a relative function of dietary alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA) content, with the greatest response being to diets containing
We have shown in guinea pigs that ALA at 1% diet fatty acids was not sufficient to achieve the optimum retinal docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels, while a diet containing ALA
This study showed that increasing the maternal supply of ALA increased retinal DHA in a linear fashion in 3-week-old guinea pigs

Summary

Introduction

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) is concentrated in the disk membranes of rod outer segments of photoreceptor cells in the retina [1]. Wheeler et al [3] showed that the electrical response of the photoreceptor cell was a relative function of dietary alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA) content, with the greatest response being to diets containing. These data showed a selective functional role for omega 3 PUFA, presumably because of the very high DHA content of retina membrane phospholipids (PL). Both the brain and retina are enriched in DHA compared with other tissues [4] and have a limited capacity for DHA synthesis [5].

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