title: Metabolism of dietary alpha-linolenic acid vs. eicosapentaenoic acid in rat immune cell phospholipids during endotoxemia.
abstract: Short-term (i.e., 3 d) continuous enteral feeding of diets containing eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and gamma-linolenic (GLA) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) to endotoxemic rats reduces the levels of arachidonic acid (AA) and linoleic acid (LA) in alveolar macrophage (AM) and liver Kupffer and endothelial (K&E) cell phospholipids with attendant decreases in prostaglandin formation by these cells in vitro. Diets that contain alpha-linolenic acid (LNA) as a substrate for endogenous formation of EPA may not be as effective in facilitating these immune cell modifications given the limited activity of delta6 desaturase. In the present study we compared the effectiveness of an LNA-enriched diet vs. an (EPA + GLA)-enriched diet to displace phospholipid AA from AM and liver K&E cells in vivo in endotoxemic rats fed enterally for 3 or 6 d. We determined the fatty acid composition of AM and K&E cell phospholipids by gas chromatography. We found that AM and K&E cells from rats that had received the EPA + GLA diet for 3 d had significantly (P < 0.001) higher mole percentage of EPA and the GLA metabolite, dihomoGLA, than corresponding cells from rats given the LNA diet or a control diet enriched with LA. Rats given the LNA diet had relatively low levels of stearidonic acid, EPA and other n-3 PUFA, while rats given the LA diet had low levels of GLA and dihomoGLA. We conclude that diets enriched with LNA or LA may not be as effective as those enriched with EPA + GLA for purposes of fostering incorporation of EPA or dihomoGLA into and displacement of AA from macrophage phospholipids under pathophysiologic conditions commonly found in acutely septic patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. jpalombo@west.bidmc.harvard.edu
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Palombo
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: DeMichele
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Boyce
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noursalehi
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Forse
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Bistrian
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016718:Arachidonic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / Q000378:metabolism*; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D004727:Endothelium / Q000378:metabolism; D019446:Endotoxemia / Q000378:metabolism*; D007107:Immune System / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D007728:Kupffer Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D019787:Linoleic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008168:Lung / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D016676:Macrophages, Alveolar / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D017965:gamma-Linolenic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives
chemical_list: D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid; D016718:Arachidonic Acid; D017965:gamma-Linolenic Acid; D019787:Linoleic Acid; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid