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Brain and Liver Headspace Aldehyde Concentration Following Dietary Supplementation with n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids

  • Original Article
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Lipids

Abstract

Reactive oxygen species react with unsaturated fatty acids to form a variety of metabolites including aldehydes. Many aldehydes are volatile enough to be detected in headspace gases of blood or cultured cells and in exhaled breath, in particular propanal and hexanal which are derived from omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, respectively. Aldehydes are therefore potential non-invasive biomarkers of oxidative stress and of various diseases in which oxidative stress is thought to play a role including cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It is unclear, however, how changes in the abundance of the fatty acid precursors, for example by altered dietary intake, affect aldehyde concentrations. We therefore fed male Wistar rats diets supplemented with either palm oil or a combination of palm oil plus an n-3 fatty acid (alpha-linolenic, eicosapentaenoic, or docosahexaenoic acids) for 4 weeks. Fatty acid analysis revealed large changes in the abundance of both n-3 and n-6 fatty acids in the liver with smaller changes observed in the brain. Despite the altered fatty acid abundance, headspace concentrations of C1–C8 aldehydes, and tissue concentrations of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, did not differ between the 4 dietary groups. Our data suggest that tissue aldehyde concentrations are independent of fatty acid abundance, and further support their use as volatile biomarkers of oxidative stress.

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Abbreviations

ALA:

Alpha-linolenic acid

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

DHA:

Docasahexaenoic acid

EPA:

Eicosapentaenoic acid

ID:

Internal diameter

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

OD:

Outer diameter

PUFA:

Polyunsaturated fatty acid

PPBV:

Parts per billion by volume

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

TBARS:

Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances

VOC:

Volatile organic compounds

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the Canadian National Science and Engineering Research Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Medical Sciences, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, ON, P7B5E1, Canada

    Brian M. Ross

  2. Department of Biology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada

    Brian M. Ross, Slim Babay & Imran Malik

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  1. Brian M. Ross
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  2. Slim Babay
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  3. Imran Malik
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Correspondence to Brian M. Ross.

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Ross, B.M., Babay, S. & Malik, I. Brain and Liver Headspace Aldehyde Concentration Following Dietary Supplementation with n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids. Lipids 50, 1123–1131 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-015-4063-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-015-4063-3

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