Abstract

Conjugated fatty acid, the general term of positional and geometric isomers of polyunsaturated fatty acids with conjugated double bonds, has attracted considerable attention because of its potentially beneficial biological effects. In the present study, dietary effect of pomegranate seed oil rich in punicic acid (9cis, 11trans, 13cis-conjugated linolenic acid; 9c, 11t, 13c-CLNA) on lipid metabolism was investigated in obese, hyperlipidemic Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats. After 2 weeks feeding period, OLETF rats revealed obesity and hyperlipidemia compared with their progenitor LETO rats. Feeding of the diet supplemented with 9% safflower oil and 1% pomegranate seed oil (9c, 11t, 13c-CLNA diet) did not affect abdominal white adipose tissue weights and serum lipid levels compared with the diet supplemented with 10% safflower oil (control diet) in OLETF rats. However, the accumulated hepatic triacylglycerol was markedly decreased by 9c, 11t, 13c-CLNA diet in OLETF rats. Activities of hepatic enzymes related to fatty acid synthesis and fatty acid β-oxidation were not altered by 9c, 11t, 13c-CLNA diet. Levels of monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), major storage form of fatty acid, in serum triacylglycerol were markedly higher in obese, hyperlipidemic OLETF rats than in lean LETO rats. In addition, 9c, 11t, 13c-CLNA diet significantly decreased MUFA levels in OLETF rats. This is the first study showing that 9c, 11t, 13c-CLNA suppresses delta-9 desaturation in vivo, and we suggest that the alleviation of hepatic triacylglycerol accumulation by 9c, 11t, 13c-CLNA diet was, at least in part, attributable to the suppression of delta-9 desaturation in OLETF rats.

Highlights

  • Conjugated fatty acid (CFA) is the general term of positional and geometric isomers of polyunsaturated fatty acids with conjugated double bonds

  • We investigated the effects of pomegranate seed oil rich in 9c, 11t, 13c-CLNA on lipid metabolism in Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima fatty (OLETF) rats

  • There was no significant difference between groups in the relative liver weights of Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) and Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats

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Summary

Introduction

Conjugated fatty acid (CFA) is the general term of positional and geometric isomers of polyunsaturated fatty acids with conjugated double bonds. It has been reported that conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), the CFA form of linoleic acid, has favorable physiological effects, such as antiatherosclerosis, anti-obesity, anti-tumor, and anti-hypertension [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Punicic acid (9cis, 11trans, 13cis-conjugated linolenic acid; 9c, 11t, 13c-CLNA) is contained about 72% in pomegranate seed oil [10]. There are some studies showing that mixtures of CLNA isomers, prepared by alkaline isomerization of α-linolenic acid or plant seed oil, have some physiological functions including body fat reduction and anti-tumor activity [12,13]. Purified α-eleostearic acid (9c, 11t, 13t-CLNA) and α-eleostearic acid rich bitter gourd seed oil reveal anti-carcinogenesis in vitro and in vivo [10,11,14,15]. We reported the hypolipidemic effect of purified punicic acid in human liver derived HepG2 cells [17]

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