title: Associations between dietary n-6 and n-3 fatty acids and arachidonic acid compositions in plasma and erythrocytes in young and elderly Japanese volunteers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We reported that the compositions of arachidonic acid (ARA) in erythrocytes and plasma phospholipids (PL) in the elderly were lower than those in the young, though the ARA intake was nearly identical.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We further analyzed data in four study groups with different ages and sexes, and determined that the blood ARA levels were affected by the kinds of dietary fatty acids ingested.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and four healthy young and elderly volunteers were recruited. Dietary records together with photographic records from 28 consecutive days were reviewed and the fatty acid composition in plasma lipid fractions and erythrocyte PL was analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No correlations for ARA between dietary fatty acids and blood lipid fractions were observed. A significant negative correlation between eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) + docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake and ARA composition in erythrocyte PL was observed. ARA composition in erythrocyte PL was significantly lower in elderly subjects than in young subjects, because EPA and DHA intake in elderly subjects was higher than in young subjects. However, after removing the effect of dietary EPA+DHA intake, the ARA composition in erythrocyte PL in elderly subjects was significantly lower than that in young subjects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Changes in physical conditions with aging influenced the low ARA composition of erythrocyte in elderly subjects in addition to the effects of dietary EPA and DHA.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nutrition, Kagawa Nutrition University, 3-9-21 Chiyoda, Sakado, Saitama 350-0288, Japan. kawabata@eiyo.ac.jp
authors.forename: Terue
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawabata
authors.forename: Satoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hirota
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hirayama
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Iwama
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamachi
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Araki
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawashima
authors.forename: Yoshinobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kiso
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001095:Arachidonic Acids / Q000097:blood*; D015930:Diet Records; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000378:metabolism*; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6 / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006805:Human Experimentation; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001095:Arachidonic Acids; D004041:Dietary Fats; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D015118:Eicosapentaenoic Acid