Dietary supplementation of undernourished rats with soy or safflower oil: effects on myelin polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Undernourished suckling rats were administered, by gastric intubation, either soy oil (which is rich in both linoleic and linolenic acids) or safflower oil (which is rich in linoleic acid but deficient in linolenic acid) to determine (1) if dietary supplementation would offset the hypomyelination characteristic of the undernourished, developing brain and (2) to compare myelin fatty acids in normal, undernourished, and oil-supplemented rats. Myelin recovery was not increased by supplementation with either oil. The proportions of C22:4 and C22:6 fatty acids were reduced in myelin of the undernourished rats. Undernourished rats supplemented with either soy or safflower oil had higher than normal proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids (C20:4 and C22:6). The triene-tetraene ratio in the oil-supplemented rats was lower than in normal controls, indicating that the oil-supplemented rats were not deficient in essential fatty acids. No significant differences were observed between the oil-supplemented groups.

Essential fatty acids (EFA) deficiency and liver mitochondria.

2 dietary fats, namely, hydrogenated coconut oil and safflower seed oil were fed at 20% levels to weanling male albino rats for a period of 2 months after which the animals were sacrificed and oxidative phosphorylation measured in liver mitochondria. This ratio was more in the unsaturated-fat-fed group of rats compared to the saturated-fed ones for glutamate and malate; in the case of succinate no such change was noticed.

Effect of dietary fats on oxidative phosphorylation and fatty acid profile of rat liver mitochondria.

Hydrogenated coconut oil or safflower seed oil were fed at 20% levels to weanling male albino rats for 2 months. The fatty acid patterns of the liver homogenates, mitochondria and the microsomes were determined by gas chromatography as were also the fatty acid patterns of the liver cholesterol esters and the phospholipids. The mitochondrial phospholipids were fractionated by thin layer chromatography and the fatty acid moieties of the individual phospholipids were screened on a gas chromatograph. The oxidative phosphorylation in the liver mitochondria was determined using glutamate, malate and succinate as substrates. The liver fatty acid pattern, especially that of the subcellular particles, seemed to be dependent upon the dietary fat. The fatty acid composition of the mitochondrial phospholipids varied with the dietary fat. Oxidative phosphorylation for glutamate and malate was higher in the group fed safflower oil compared to that in the group fed saturated fat; in the case of succinate, no such difference was noticed. These results suggest that the changes in the phosphorylation capacity are due to the changes in the mitochondrial phospholipids which reflect the composition of the dietary fat.

Cholesterol esterification activities in the intestines and pancreas of the albino rat.

Cholesterol esterification activities in intestines and pancreas are much greater with unsaturated fatty acids than with the saturated ones; the maximum activity is with arachidonic acid in intestines and with oleic acid in pancreas. The pancreatic cholesterol esterification activity is higher than the intestinal one.