The metabolism of 20- and 22-carbon unsaturated acids in rat heart and myocytes as mediated by feeding fish oil

Metabolism of linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids in cultured cardiomyocytes: effect of different N-6 and N-3 fatty acid supplementation

The metabolites of linoleic (LA) and alpha-linolenic (ALA) acids are involved in coronary heart disease. Both n-6 and n-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs) are likely to be important in prevention of atherosclerosis since the common risk factors are associated with their reduced 6-desaturation. We previously demonstrated the ability of heart tissue to desaturate LA. In this study we examined the ability of cultured cardiomyocytes to metabolize both LA and ALA in vivo, in the absence and in the presence of gamma linolenic acid (GLA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) alone or combined together. In control conditions, about 25% or LA and about 90% of ALA were converted in PUFAs. GLA supplementation had no influence on LA conversion to more unsaturated fatty acids, while the addition of n-3 fatty acids, alone or combined together, significantly decreased the formation of interconversion products from LA. Using the combination of n-6 and n-3 PUFAs, GLA seemed to counterbalance partially the inhibitory effect of EPA and DHA on LA desaturation/elongation. The conversion of ALA to more unsaturated metabolites was greatly affected by GLA supplementation. Each supplemented fatty acid was incorporated to a significant extent into cardiomyocyte lipids, as revealed by gas chromatographic analysis. The n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratio was greatly influenced by the different supplementations; the ratio in GLA+EPA+DHA supplemented cardiomyocytes was the most similar to that recorded in control cardiomyocytes. Since important risk factors for coronary disease may be associated with reduced 6-desaturation of the parent EFAs, administration of n-6 or n-3 EFA metabolites alone could cause undesirable effects. Since they appear to have different and synergistic roles, only combined treatment with both n-6 and n-3 metabolites is likely to achieve optimum results.

The effect of dietary N-3 fatty acids on osmotic fragility and membrane fluidity of human erythrocytes

Sixteen healthy females were randomly assigned to receive fish oil or corn oil double blind in a 28 days intervention period. Osmotic fragility of erythrocytes was decreased in the fish-oil supplemented group and not affected in the corn-oil group. The decrease in osmotic fragility was maximal after 14 days and approached the pre-intervention level after 24 and 28 days of n-3 supplementation. No change was observed in erythrocyte membrane fluidity in either of the groups. The level of n-3 fatty acids increased significantly in erythrocytes from the fish oil supplemented subjects, mainly at the expense of linoleic acid (18:2, n-6) and oleic acid (18:1). No significant change was seen in the relative amount of arachidonic acid (20:4,n-6) or in the phospholipid/cholesterol ratio in erythrocytes, while the ratio between the sum of phoshatidylcholine and sphingomyeline/phosphatidylethanolamine (PC+SM/PE) increased during the intervention period. This study does not verify the hypothesis of a relationship between osmotic fragility and membrane fluidity. It is concluded that increased level of n-3 fatty acids in erythrocyte membranes decreases osmotic fragility, and that this effect is counteracted by increased PC+SM/PE ratio.

Eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids in cultured rat ventricular myocytes and hypoxia-induced alterations of phospholipase-A activity

Hypoxia was reported to induce a decrease in phosphatidylcholine-hydrolyzing phospholipase activity (PC-PLA) in cultured rat cardiomyocytes. This work was intended to compare the influence of the presence of either eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the phospholipids on the PC-PLA activity in normoxic and hypoxic conditions. The enrichment of the medium with EPA or DHA resulted in cell phospholipids containing about 2% or 22% DHA, respectively. These cells were then submitted for 3.5 h to either normoxia or hypoxia and the PC-PLA activities were assayed using [1-14C] dioleoyl-PC (pH 8.4 for PC-PLA2 and 4.9 for PC-PLA1). The results show that both enzymic activities are significantly higher in DHA-rich cardiomyocytes. Hypoxia induced a significant decrease in PC-PLA2 (about 25%) which was not statistically different between the two groups of cells. The hypoxia-induced decrease in PC-PLA1 was not found significant. In conclusion, the nature of the long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the phospholipids appears to contribute to the regulation of PC-PLA activity but not to influence its decrease during hypoxia.

Effects of various dietary fats on cardiolipin acyl composition during ontogeny of mice

Cardiolipin (CL) is a unique mitochondrial phospholipid, containing up to 85 wt% 18:2n-6 in mammals. The influence of maternal dietary fatty acids on the acyl composition of offspring CL has not been examined previously. Adult female mice were thus fed diets rich in 18:1n-9 (olive oil), 18:2n-6 (safflower oil), 18:3n-3 (linseed oil) or 20:5n-3 and 22:6n-3 (fish oil/safflower, 9:1, w/w), for a five month period, encompassing two breeding cycles. Offspring from the second breeding cycle were then fed these diets. The acyl composition of CL, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine from liver and heart was evaluated from mice killed 3, 18 and 42 days after parturition. The primary nutrient sources at these three time points were transplacental nutrients, breast milk and the diet, respectively. Maternal diet was found to influence the acyl composition of CL via both placental transfer of fatty acids and breast milk. Fish oil feeding resulted in replacement of a substantial portion of 18:2n-6 with 22:6n-3; after 42 days, the area% of 18:2n-6 in heart CL was reduced from 62% in safflower oil fed mice to 12%. In comparison to fish oil feeding, linseed oil feeding resulted in a much lower accumulation of 22:6n-3. Olive oil feeding resulted in substantial replacement of 18:2n-6 with 18:1n-9 (18:2n-6 was reduced from 62% to 31%). Physiologically, these findings are relevant because changes in CL acyl composition may influence the activity of associated inner mitochondrial membrane enzymes.

The incorporation and metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids in phospholipids of cultured cells from chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta)

The incorporation and metabolism of (n-3) and (n-6) polyunsaturated fatty acids were studied in a cell line derived from chum salmon heart (CHH-1). Supplementing media with 25 μM fatty acid considerably altered the cellular fatty acid composition but did not affect the lipid class composition or cause the appearance of cytoplasmic lipid droplets. CHH-1 cells exhibited considerable Δ-6-desaturase activity but showed no preference between (n-3) and (n-6)PUFA substrates. CHH-1 cells also possess Δ-5-desaturase activity which showed preference towards (n-3)PUFA, but Δ-4-desaturase activity was totally absent. Elongation of 20-carbon PUFA was especially active in CHH-1 cells with 22-carbon PUFA being specifically incorporated into PE and PS lipid classes. The fatty acid composition of PI indicated specific incorporation of 20-carbon PUFA into this lipid class. Supplementation with 22:6(n-3) generated fatty acid compositions more closely resembling those of intact salmonid hearts. Substantial chain shortening of 22:6(n-3) to 20:5(n-3) occurred.

Differences in the interconversion between 20- and 22-carbon (n - 3) and (n - 6) polyunsaturated fatty acids in rat liver

When male weanling rats were fed diets containing either 5% corn oil or a diet in which half of the corn oil was replaced by fish oil, the 20:5(n - 3) in liver choline and ethanolamine phosphoglycerides, not only partially replaced arachidonate but also paired with palmitic and stearic acids in the same molar ratio as did arachidonate. The 22:5(n - 3)/22:6(n - 3) ratio in the liver phospholipids of corn oil fed rats was similar to that found when the esterified levels of these two acids were increased 5-fold by feeding fish oil. Moreover, the pairing of both 22:5(n - 3) and 22:6(n - 3) with palmitic and stearic acids, on a molar ratio basis, was relatively independent of the total amount of esterified 22:5(n - 3) and 22:6(n - 3). When (3-14C)-labeled 22:4(n - 6) was injected into rats raised on a chow diet or incubated with hepatocytes from these animals, its primary metabolic fate was retroconversion to arachidonate followed by esterification. Conversely, [3-14C]22:5(n - 3) was a poorer substrate for retroconversion with a larger amount being esterified directly into phospholipids and, in addition, this acid served as a precursor for 22:6(n - 3). The enhanced metabolism of both [3-14C]22:4(n - 6) to 22:5(n - 6) and of [3-14C]22:5(n - 3) to 22:6(n - 3) in animals raised on a diet devoid of fat or in their hepatocytes may possibly be due to elevated 6-desaturase activity and/or the level of this enzyme or enzymes. This hypothesis is based on studies showing that the synthesis of 22:6(n - 3) proceeds via a pathway independent of a 4-desaturase but requires the use of a 6-desaturase at two steps (Voss, A., Reinhart, M., Sankarappa, S. and Sprecher, H. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 19995-20000).

Effects of dietary purified eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5 (n-3)) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6(n-3)) on fatty acid desaturation and oxidation in isolated rat liver cells

The effects of dietary supplementation of eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5(n-3), EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6(n-3), DHA) on the metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids were studied in isolated rat liver cells. Both pure EPA and pure DHA and a mixture of the two n-3 fatty acids in different doses were used. The supplementation of moderate amounts of n-3 fatty acids suppressed the activity of delta 6-desaturase (50%) and to a smaller extent of the delta 5-desaturase (60-70%) compared to controls. When higher doses of dietary purified EPA and DHA were used, this inhibitory effect on the delta 6- and delta 5-desaturase activities disappeared. The delta 4-desaturase activity seemed to be unaffected by the feeding conditions used. The supplementation of the n-3 fatty acids in the diet at all dose levels used increased the beta-oxidation of all the polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially of linoleic acid, linolenic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid. The results suggest an increase both in peroxisomal and mitochondrial beta-oxidation. The peroxisomal beta-oxidation of n-3 fatty acids seemed to be particularly increased.

Condensation activity for polyunsaturated fatty acids with malonyl-CoA in rat brain microsomes. Characteristics and developmental change

Condensation activities for gamma-linolenic acid (18:3(n-6)), octadecatetraenoic acid (18:4(n-3)) and eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5(n-3)) with malonyl-CoA were measured and compared with the condensation activities for 16:0-CoA, 18:1-CoA, 18:2(n-6)-CoA and 18:3(n-3)-CoA in rat brain microsomes of various ages. The age-dependence of condensation activities for 18:3(n-6), 18:4(n-3) and 20:5(n-3) showed a maximum at 1- to 2-month-old and were still higher at 3-month-old 2- to 3-fold than the activities in microsomes of pups. Conversely, the age-dependence of condensation activity for 16:0-CoA showed a peak around 1 month-old, but decreased at 3-month-old to the level of the activities in pups. The condensation activity for 20:5(n-3) was inhibited by 18:3(n-6) or 18:4(n-3) and the inhibition was not competitive. The condensation of 18:3(n-6) was also inhibited by 18:4(n-3) in the same manner. A physiological implication of the inhibition system at the substrate level was discussed.