title: Effect of dietary n-3 fatty acids on the composition of long- and very-long-chain polyenoic fatty acid in rat retina.
abstract: The effect of dietary supplementation with n-3 fatty acids, primarily docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with high purity, on the fatty acid composition, especially very-long-chain fatty acids (VLCFA) longer than DHA, with four or six double bonds, in the rod outer segment (ROS) membranes of young Sprague-Dawley rats was investigated. After several weeks of feeding, diets high in n-3 fatty acids increased the DHA level significantly, while there were decreased levels of most n-6 fatty acids, such as arachidonic acid and 22:5n-6. Six kinds of VLCFA were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Feeding a high n-3 fatty acid diet significantly increased the content of some n-3 VLCFAs such as 26:4n-3 and 30:4n-3 in ROS membranes, but not all detected n-3 VLCFAs. This study demonstrates that the dietary level of n-3 fatty acids not only affects the level of DHA, but also the levels of VLCFA in ROS membranes.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 354 Fenglin Road, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Zhu-Ping
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.forename: Jin-Ye
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012160:Retina / Q000378:metabolism*; D012374:Rod Cell Outer Segment / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids