Effects of .OMEGA.3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on growth and tissue fatty acid compositions of maternal rats and their progeny.

Abstract

The effects of to ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acids [PUFA; mainly eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5, ω3) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6, ω3)] on the growth, tissue weights and fatty acid compositions of tissue total lipids in female rats and their progeny were investigated. Female rats of the Wistar strain, weighing 77-94g, were fed a 25% casein diet containing 5% of either corn oil (control), sardine oil or PUFA ethyl ester for 8-9 weeks prior to mating, and during gestation and lactation, and then for a further 2 weeks. The progeny were weaned to the maternal diet and then the latter was administered for a further 2 weeks. Dietary changes in the body weights of the dams were not generally seen, but the body weights at birth and growth of the offspring from the females supplied with the PUFA diet were inferior compared to those of the other groups. The fertility did not differ among the dietary groups. The weights of several tissues in the dams and the progeny increased in proportion to their body weights but not that of the progeny brain, which remained almost unchanged by the dietary fats. As to the fatty acid compositions of total lipids in the tissues, on the whole, decreased levels of ω6 fatty acids and increased percentages of ω3 fatty acids were found in the sardine and PUFA groups, the changes being greater in the PUFA group than in the sardine one. Such findings due to the feeding of PUFA were more remarkable in the progeny compared with in the dams. Eicosatrienoic acid (20:3, ω9) was almost completely undetectable in the tissue total lipids of all the dietary groups.