Abstract
Background: Free fatty acid (FFA) metabolism can impact on metabolic conditions, such as obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This work studied the increase in total FFA shown in NAFLD subjects to possibly characterize which fatty acids significantly accounted for the whole increase. Methods: 21 patients with NAFLD were selected according to specified criteria. The control group consisted of nine healthy subjects. All subjects underwent an oral standard fat load. Triglycerides; cholesterol; FFA; glucose and insulin were measured every 2 h with the determination of fatty acid composition of FFA. Results: higher serum FFA levels in NAFLD subjects are mainly due to levels of oleic, palmitic and linoleic acids at different times. Significant increases were shown for docosahexaenoic acid, linolenic acid, eicosatrienoic acid, and arachidonic acid, although this was just on one occasion. In the postprandial phase, homeostatic model assessment HOMA index positively correlated with the ω3/ω6 ratio in NAFLD patients. Conclusions: the higher serum levels of FFA in NAFLD subjects are mainly due to levels of oleic and palmitic acids which are the most abundant circulating free fatty acids. This is almost exactly corresponded with significant increases in linoleic acid. An imbalance in the n-3/n-6 fatty acids ratio could modulate postprandial responses with more pronounced effects in insulin-resistant subjects, such as NAFLD patients.
Highlights
Free fatty acid (FFA) metabolism can widely impact on metabolic health
We investigated the composition of circulating FFA in normal and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) subjects during fasting and after a standard oral lipid load
After oral fat load in NAFLD patients, triglycerides reached their maximum peak after around 4 h and they circulated at higher levels than in control subjects
Summary
Free fatty acid (FFA) metabolism can widely impact on metabolic health. Several metabolic conditions, such as obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, are associated with increased total concentrations of serum free fatty acids [1,2]. Hepatic lipid accumulation results from an imbalance between lipid availability and lipid disposal [3,4] In this context, the composition of serum FFA has been poorly studied so far, especially in the postprandial state [5]. Results: higher serum FFA levels in NAFLD subjects are mainly due to levels of oleic, palmitic and linoleic acids at different times. Conclusions: the higher serum levels of FFA in NAFLD subjects are mainly due to levels of oleic and palmitic acids which are the most abundant circulating free fatty acids. This is almost exactly corresponded with significant increases in linoleic acid. An imbalance in the n-3/n-6 fatty acids ratio could modulate postprandial responses with more pronounced effects in insulin-resistant subjects, such as NAFLD patients
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