Pharmacokinetics of Dietary 13C‐Labeled Docosahexaenoic Acid and Docosapentaenoic Acid in Red Sea Bream Chrysophrys major

Abstract

AbstractThe objectives of this study were to investigate: 1) the pharmacokinetics of dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) using 13C‐labeled fatty acids; 2) the interorgan transport of DHA in the red sea bream by monitoring the DHA level of several organs; and 3) the relationship between the plasma DHA level and optimum dietary DHA level in the plasma of the red sea bream Chrysophrys major. For this purpose, a mixture of 38.5% of [13C]DHA, 8.5% of [13C]DPA, and 4.2% of [13C]palmitic acid were given to the red sea bream at dose level of 8.0, 16.0, and 47.9 mg/kg by a single oral administration. For [13C]DHA, the maximum plasma concentration (tmax) occurred at 2.00–3.00 h after the oral administration. The peak plasma concentration (Cmax) and the area under the plasma concentration‐time curve to 24 h (AUC0‐24 for [13C]DHA level linearly increased with respect to dosage. [13C]DHA appeared in each organ (plasma, erythrocyte and the fat body of the orbit, liver, intestine, skin, brain, heart and muscle) at 0.5 h and was observed until 24 h. From the values determined for the pharmacokinetic parameters, the range of the effective plasma DHA level for normal growth of the red sea bream was suggested to be between 21.0 and 40.3 μg/mL. For [13C]DPA, the AUC0‐24 and Cmax values also linearly increased with the dosage, but tmax did not depend on it.