Abstract
Two experiments were carried out to study the effects of dietary copper on the performance and lipid metabolism of pigs. In experiment 1 the addition of 250 ppm copper had no significant effect on performance but resulted in a more unsaturated depot fat. It was postulated that the latter effect could be caused by a preferential mobilization of saturated fatty acid (SFA) from adipose tissue, but examination of the fasting free fatty acid (FFA) plasma fraction revealed no evidence for any preferential mobilization, although the concentration of total FFA was increased in the copper-fed animals. The objective of experiment 2 was to investigate whether dietary copper resulted in an increased synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) in adipose tissue. Uptake of plasma triglycerides was prevented by prior injection of Triton WR-1339 to give an uncomplicated picture of fatty acid synthesis. The results showed that copper did alter the distribution of14C activity in adipose tissue fatty acids but shifted the pattern to one of a more saturated nature, which clearly invalidated the hypothesis that copper increases synthesis of UFA.
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