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Dietary ALA from Spinach Enhances Liver n-3 Fatty Acid Content to Greater Extent than Linseed Oil in Mice Fed Equivalent Amounts of ALA

  • Original Article
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Lipids

Abstract

Although several works have reported absorption rate differences of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) bound to different lipid forms, such as ethyl ester, triacylglycerol (TAG), and phospholipids, no studies have investigated the effect of n-3 PUFA from glycolipids (GL). The present study compared the fatty acid contents of tissue and serum lipids from normal C57BL/6J mice fed two types of α-linolenic acid (ALA)-rich lipids, spinach lipid (SPL), and linseed oil (LO). ALA was primarily present as the GL form in SPL, while it existed as TAG in LO. Supplementation of both lipids increased ALA and its n-3 metabolites, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and docosahexaenoic acid, and decreased n-6 PUFA, linoleic acid and arachidonic acid, in the livers, small intestines, and sera of the treated mice compared with those of the control group. When the comparison between the SPL and LO diets containing the same amount of ALA was conducted, the EPA and DPA levels in the liver lipids from mice fed the SPL diet were significantly higher than those fed the LO diet. Additionally, the total contents of n-3 PUFA of lipids from the livers, small intestines, and sera of the SPL group were higher than those of the LO group.

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Abbreviations

ALA:

α-Linolenic acid

ARA:

Arachidonic acid

DGDG:

Digalactosyl diacylglycerol

DHA:

Docosahexaenoic acid

DPA:

Docosapentaenoic acid

EE:

Ethyl esters

EPA:

Eicosapentaenoic acid

FFA:

Free fatty acid

GC:

Gas chromatography

GL:

Galactolipids

LA:

Linoleic acid

LO:

Linseed oil

MGDG:

Monogalactosyl diacylglycerol

PC:

Phosphatidyl choline

PL:

Phospholipids

SPL:

Spinach lipids

SQDG:

Sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol

TAG:

Triacylglycerol

TL:

Total lipids

TLC:

Thin layer chromatography

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the “Scientific technique research promotion program from agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and food industry” from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Bio-functional Material Chemistry, Division of Marine Bioscience, Faculty of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, 3-1-1 Minato, Hakodate, Hokkaido, 041-8611, Japan

    Miho Kuroe, Hiroyuki Kamogawa, Masashi Hosokawa & Kazuo Miyashita

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  1. Miho Kuroe
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  2. Hiroyuki Kamogawa
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  3. Masashi Hosokawa
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  4. Kazuo Miyashita
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Correspondence to Kazuo Miyashita.

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Kuroe, M., Kamogawa, H., Hosokawa, M. et al. Dietary ALA from Spinach Enhances Liver n-3 Fatty Acid Content to Greater Extent than Linseed Oil in Mice Fed Equivalent Amounts of ALA. Lipids 51, 39–48 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-015-4086-9

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