The Effect of Dietary Essential Fatty Acids upon Composition of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Depot Fat and Erythrocytes of the Rat.

The fatty acid Composition of lipids from erythrocytes and depot fat of rats whose diet wac supplemented with various levels of linoleate, arachidonate, or linolenate has been investigated. Dietary linoleate and linolenate are incorporated into the depot fat. The ratio of eicosatrienoic acid to eicosatetraenoic acid, derived from the analysis of depot fat, decreases with increasing amounts of all three dietary essential fatty acids (EFA) in the same manner as observed in organ lipids. The composition of the unsaturated fatty acids of erythrocyte lipids is altered readily by increasing amounts of dietary EFA. The concentration of 20: 3 is lowered extensively by all three EFA. The synthesis of arachidonate is inhibited by dietary linolenate and 20:5 and 22:5w3 (double bond between third and fourth carbow from w end) can be detected only in animalh given linolenate.