Dietary Fat and Fatty Acid Compositions of Rat Leucocytes and Granules

Abstract

To study the effect of dietary fats on fatty acid constituents of polymorphonuclear leucocyte and granule lipids, rats were fed diets which contained either 15% corn oil, 15% hydrogenated coconut oil, or no fat for 40 weeks, and polymorphonuclear leucocytes were separated from the peritoneal exudate after injection of a saline containing glycogen. The dietary alterations did not significantly influence the percentages of lipid components in the leucocytes and granules, but their fatty acid patterns showed a marked response. A lower content of linoleic and arachidonic acids in leucocyte and granule lipids from rats fed essential fatty acid-deficient diets, a hydrogenated coconut oil or a fat-deficient diet, was accompanied by a higher content of palmitoleic, oleic, and eicosatrienoic acids. The fatty acid patterns of both granule phospholipids and non-phospholipids responded to the dietary alterations to a lesser degree than total leucocyte lipids.