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Lower Efficacy in the Utilization of Dietary ALA as Compared to Preformed EPA + DHA on Long Chain n-3 PUFA Levels in Rats

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Lipids

Abstract

We made a comparative analysis of the uptake, tissue deposition and conversion of dietary α-linolenic acid (ALA) to its long chain metabolites eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with preformed EPA + DHA. Diets containing linseed oil [with ALA at ~2.5 (4 g/kg diet), 5 (8 g/kg diet), 10 (16 g/kg diet), 25% (40 g/kg diet)] or fish oil [with EPA + DHA at ~1 (1.65 g/kg diet), 2.5 (4.12 g/kg diet), 5% (8.25 g/kg diet)] or groundnut oil without n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) were fed to rats for 60 days. ALA and EPA + DHA in serum, liver, heart and brain increased with increments in the dietary ALA level. When preformed EPA + DHA were fed, the tissue EPA + DHA increased significantly compared to those given ALA. Normalized values from dietary n-3 PUFA to tissue EPA + DHA indicated that 100 mg of dietary ALA lead to accumulation of EPA + DHA at 2.04, 0.70, 1.91 and 1.64% of total fatty acids respectively in liver, heart, brain and serum. Similarly 100 mg of preformed dietary EPA + DHA resulted in 25.4, 23.8, 15.9 and 14.9% of total fatty acids in liver, heart, brain and serum respectively. To maintain a given level of EPA + DHA, the dietary ALA required is 12.5, 33.5, 8.3 and 9.1 times higher than the dietary EPA + DHA for liver, heart, brain and serum respectively. Hence the efficacy of precursor ALA is lower compared to preformed EPA + DHA in elevating serum and tissue long chain n-3 PUFA levels.

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Abbreviations

ALA:

α-Linolenic acid (18:3 n-3)

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

ARA:

Arachidonic acid (20:4 n-6)

DHA:

Docosahexaenoic acid (22:6 n-3)

DPA:

Docosapentaenoic acid (22:5 n-3)

EPA:

Eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5 n-3)

FO:

Fish oil

GNO:

Groundnut oil (peanut oil)

HDL:

High density lipoprotein

LDL:

Low density lipoprotein

LNA:

Linoleic acid (18:2 n-6)

LSO:

Linseed oil

ND:

Not detected

PUFA:

Polyunsaturated fatty acid (s)

SD:

Standard deviation

SFA:

Saturated fatty acid

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Acknowledgments

T.R. Ramaprasad acknowledges a Senior Research Fellowship grant from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, India. The authors thank Dr. Visheweshwariah Prakash, Director, CFTRI for his suggestions in the manuscript preparation.

Conflict of interest

All authors have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Lipid Science and Traditional Foods, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, 570 020, India

    Ramaprasad R. Talahalli & Belur R. Lokesh

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, 570 020, India

    Baskaran Vallikannan & Kari Sambaiah

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  1. Ramaprasad R. Talahalli
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  4. Belur R. Lokesh
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Correspondence to Belur R. Lokesh.

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Talahalli, R.R., Vallikannan, B., Sambaiah, K. et al. Lower Efficacy in the Utilization of Dietary ALA as Compared to Preformed EPA + DHA on Long Chain n-3 PUFA Levels in Rats. Lipids 45, 799–808 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-010-3464-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-010-3464-6

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