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Lipid and fatty acid profiles in rats consuming different high-fat ketogenic diets

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Lipids

Abstract

High-fat ketogenic diets are used to treat intractable seizures in children, but little is known of the mechanism by which these diets work or whether fats rich in n−3 polyunsaturates might be beneficial. Tissue lipid and fatty acid profiles were determined in rats consuming very high fat (80 weight%), low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets containing either medium-chain triglyceride, flaxseed oil, butter, or an equal combination of these three fat sources. Ketogenic diets containing butter markedly raised liver triglyceride but had no effect on plasma cholesterol. Unlike the other fats, flaxseed oil in the ketogenic diet did not raise brain cholesterol. Brain total and free fatty acid profiles remained similar in all groups, but there was an increase in the proportion of arachidonate in brain total lipids in the medium-chain triglyceride group, while the two groups consuming flaxseed oil had significantly lower arachidonate in brain, liver, and plasma. The very high dietary intake of α-linolenate in the flaxseed group did not change docosahexaenoate levels in the brain. Our previous report based on these diets showed that although ketosis is higher in rats consuming a ketogenic diet based on medium-chain triglyceride oil, seizure resistance in the pentylenetetrazol model is not clearly related to the degree of ketosis achieved. In combination with our present data from the same seizure study, it appears that ketogenic diets with widely differing effects on tissue lipids and fatty acid profiles can confer a similar amount of seizure protection.

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Abbreviations

AA:

arachidonate

ALA:

α-linolenate

ANOVA:

analysis of variance

DHA:

docosahexaenoate

EPA:

eicosapentaenoate

FSO:

flaxseed oil

LA:

linoleic acid

MCT:

medium-chain triglyceride

PTZ:

pentylenetetrazol

PUFA:

polyunsaturated fatty acid

TLC:

thin-layer chromatography

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, M5S 3E2, Toronto, Canada

    Cynthia A. Dell, Sergei S. Likhodii, Kathy Musa, Mary Ann Ryan & Stephen C. Cunnane

  2. Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, M5S 3E2, Toronto, Canada

    W. MacIntyre Burnham

Authors
  1. Cynthia A. Dell
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  2. Sergei S. Likhodii
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  3. Kathy Musa
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  4. Mary Ann Ryan
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  5. W. MacIntyre Burnham
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  6. Stephen C. Cunnane
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Correspondence to Stephen C. Cunnane.

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Dell, C.A., Likhodii, S.S., Musa, K. et al. Lipid and fatty acid profiles in rats consuming different high-fat ketogenic diets. Lipids 36, 373–378 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-001-0730-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-001-0730-8

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