title: Alleviation of fatty liver by alpha-linolenic acid.
abstract: We compared the efficacy of alpha-linolenic acid (alpha-LNA, n-3) and linoleic acid (LA, n-6) on orotic acid (OA)-induced fatty liver in Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were fed semi-synthetic diets containing either LA or alpha-LNA with or without 1% OA for 2 wk. OA supplementation lowered serum lipids in LA+OA groups. In addition to the decline of serum lipids in alpha-LNA groups compared to LA groups, a further decrease was found in alpha-LNA+OA groups compared to LA+OA groups. OA-containing diets significantly increased the liver weights and triacylglycerol (TG) accumulations compared with the OA-free diets. These results were attributed to the significant increases in the activities of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase (PAP), a rate-limiting enzyme of TG synthesis, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, a fatty acid synthesis-related enzyme. However, the increase of PAP activity was significantly less in the alpha-LNA+OA group as compared with the LA+OA group. These results suggest that dietary alpha-LNA alleviates OA-induced hepatic TG accumulation through the attenuation of hepatic TG synthesis in rats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Biological Sciences, Saga University, Saga, Japan.
authors.forename: Yohanes
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Buang
authors.forename: Jae-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagao
authors.forename: Yu-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Nao
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Teruyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yanagita
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D019787:Linoleic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D009963:Orotic Acid / Q000633:toxicity*; D010711:Phosphatidate Phosphatase / Q000378:metabolism*; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000096:biosynthesis; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D014280:Triglycerides; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid; D009963:Orotic Acid; D019787:Linoleic Acid; D010711:Phosphatidate Phosphatase