Effects of Dietary Long-Chain Fatty Acids on the Biosynthesis of Unsaturated Fatty Acids in the Rat

Abstract

Menhaden oil (ME) was included in semisynthetic diets to study the effect of long-chain fatty acids, mainly 20:5n3 and 22:6n3, on the biosynthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids and on the 6- and 9-desaturase activities in liver microsomes. Five experimental diets, with the following fat supplements, were fed to male rats from weaning for a period of 33 weeks: 5% safflower oil (SAF) + 10% hydrogenated coconut oil (HCO), 5% SAF + 5% HCO + 5% ME, 5% SAF + 10% ME, 15% HCO and 5% HCO + 10% ME. The last two diets were deficient in linoleic acid. The three nondeficient diets contained similar amounts of linoleic acid. Including ME in the diets depressed the 6- and 9-desaturase activities, especially in the linoleic acid-deficient rats. The syntheses of 20:4n6, 22:4n6 and 22:5n6 were depressed. These effects were related to the preferential accumulation of dietary 20:5n3 and 22:6n3 in the liver microsomes, as compared to the n6 fatty acids. It is hypothesized that dietary 20:5n3 and 22:6n3 increase the minimum requirement for linoleic acid in the diet.polyunsaturated fatty acids fatty acid desaturases menhaden oil