title: Dairy fat blends high in α-linolenic acid are superior to n-3 fatty-acid-enriched palm oil blends for increasing DHA levels in the brains of young rats.
abstract: Achieving an appropriate docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) status in the neonatal brain is an important goal of neonatal nutrition. We evaluated how different dietary fat matrices improved DHA content in the brains of both male and female rats. Forty rats of each gender were born from dams fed over gestation and lactation with a low α-linolenic acid (ALA) diet (0.4% of fatty acids) and subjected for 6 weeks after weaning to a palm oil blend-based diet (10% by weight) that provided either 1.5% ALA or 1.5% ALA and 0.12% DHA with 0.4% arachidonic acid or to an anhydrous dairy fat blend that provided 1.5% or 2.3% ALA. Fatty acids in the plasma, red blood cells (RBCs) and whole brain were determined by gas chromatography. The 1.5% ALA dairy fat was superior to both the 1.5% ALA palm oil blends for increasing brain DHA (14.4% increase, P<.05), and the 2.3% ALA dairy blend exhibited a further increase that could be ascribed to both an ALA increase and n-6/n-3 ratio decrease. Females had significantly higher brain DHA due to a gender-to-diet interaction, with dairy fats attenuating the gender effect. Brain DHA was predicted with a better accuracy by some plasma and RBC fatty acids when used in combination (R(2) of 0.6) than when used individually (R(2)=0.47 for RBC n-3 docosapentaenoic acid at best). In conclusion, dairy fat blends enriched with ALA appear to be an interesting strategy for achieving optimal DHA levels in the brain of postweaning rats. Human applications are worth considering.
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR1260 Nutriments Lipidiques et Prévention des Maladies Métaboliques, Plateau BioMeT, Marseille, F-13385 France.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Jean-Charles
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Genevieve
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Agnani
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pages
authors.forename: Pascale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Leruyet
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carayon
authors.forename: Bernadette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Delplanque
mesh_terms: D000123:Acetyltransferases / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002079:Butter; D003611:Dairy Products; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000494:pharmacology; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000235:genetics; D000081031:Fatty Acid Elongases; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000097:blood; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D000073878:Palm Oil; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry; D051381:Rats; D013230:Stearoyl-CoA Desaturase / Q000235:genetics; D014886:Weaning; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D005227:Fatty Acids; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D010938:Plant Oils; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D000073878:Palm Oil; D002079:Butter; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases; D013230:Stearoyl-CoA Desaturase; C474452:delta 6-desaturase, rat; D000123:Acetyltransferases; D000081031:Fatty Acid Elongases