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Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in plasma lipids of obese children

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Lipids

Abstract

Fatty acid composition of plasma phospholipids (PL), triglycerides (TG), and sterol esters (STE) was determined by high-resolution capillary gas-liquid chromatography in 22 obese children (age: 13.7±1.4 y, body weight relative to normal weight for height: 170±24%, mean ±SD) and compared with data obtained in 25 age-matched healthy controls. There were no differences in the levels of linoleic acid (LA, C18∶2n-6) in any of the plasma fractions from the obese children and the controls. Obese children exhibited significantly higher values of arachidonic acid (AA, C20∶4n-6) than controls both in PL (12.6 [2.4] vs. 8.3 [1.4], % wt/wt, [median (interquartile range)],P<0.001) and STE (7.3 [1.8] vs. 6.0 [1.1],P<0.05). Similarly, obese children showed higher values than controls for dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DHGLA, C20∶3n-6) in PL (4.0 [0.5] vs. 3.0 [0.6],P<0.001), TG (0.4 [0.1] vs. 0.2 [0.1],P<0.001), and STE (0.9 [0.1] vs. 0.7 [0.1],P<0.01), and for γ-linolenic acid (C18∶3n-6) in STE (1.1 [0.2] vs. 0.8 [0.2],P<0.001). The AA/LA ratios were higher in obese children than in controls in PL (0.68 [0.16] vs. 0.42 [0.09],P<0.0005) and STE (0.16 [0.04] vs. 0.12 [0.02],P<0.05), whereas the AA/DHGLA ratios were lower in TG of obese children than in controls (3.40 [0.64] vs. 5.10 [1.75],P<0.005). Plasma glucose concentrations were inversely related to AA in TG (r=0.53,P<0.05), and plasma TG concentrations were inversely related to AA in PL and STE (r=−0.49,P<0.05 andr=−0.48,P<0.05) and to the AA/DHGLA ratios in PL (r=−0.57,P<0.01),TG (r=−0.56,P<0.01) and STE (r=−0.56,P<0.01). We conclude that the significantly higher values of n-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCP) in plasma lipids of obese children than in age-matched controls may be caused by an enhanced activity of Δ6-desaturation, and we speculate that elevated fasting immunoreactive insulin seen in obese children (19.4±8.0 μU/mL) may stimulate synthesis of n-6 LCP fatty acids.

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Abbreviations

AA:

arachidonic acid

DHGLA:

dihomo-γ-linolenic acid

EFA:

essential fatty acid

GLA:

γ-linolenic acid

LA:

linoleic acid

IRI:

immunoreactive insulin

LCP:

long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid

PL:

phospholipid

PUFA:

polyunsaturated fatty acids

STE:

sterol ester

TG:

triglyceride

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paediatrics, University Medical School of Pécs, H-7623, Pécs, Hungary

    Tamás Decsi & Dénes Molnár

  2. Kinderpoliklinik der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Pettenkoferstraße 8a, D-80336, Munich, Germany

    Berthold Koletzko

Authors
  1. Tamás Decsi
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  2. Dénes Molnár
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  3. Berthold Koletzko
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Decsi, T., Molnár, D. & Koletzko, B. Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in plasma lipids of obese children. Lipids 31, 305–311 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02529877

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02529877

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