Dietary (n-6:n-3) fatty acids alter plasma and tissue fatty acid composition in pregnant Sprague Dawley rats

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to study the effects of varying dietary levels of n-6:n-3 fatty acid ratio on plasma and tissue fatty acid composition in rat. The treatment groups included control rats fed chow diet only, rats fed 50 soybean oil (SBO): 50 cod liver oil (CLO) (1:1), 84 SBO: 16 CLO (6:1), 96 SBO: 4 CLO (30:1). Blood samples were taken at day 15 of pregnancy, and the plasma and tissue were analyzed for fatty acid profile. The n-3 PUFA in plasma of Diet 1:1 group was significantly higher than the other diet groups, while the total n-6 PUFA in plasma was significantly higher in Diet 30:1 group as compared to the control and Diet 1:1 groups. The Diet 1:1 group showed significantly greater percentages of total n-3 PUFA and docosahexaenoic acid in adipose and liver tissue, and this clearly reflected the contribution of n-3 fatty acids from CLO. The total n-6 PUFA, linoleic acid, and arachidonic acid were significantly difference in Diet 30:1 as compared to Diet 1:1 and control group. These results demonstrated that the dietary ratio of n-6:n-3 fatty acid ratio significantly affected plasma and tissue fatty acids profile in pregnant rat. © 2012 Amira Abdulbari Kassem et al.