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Journal of Lipid Research, Vol. 43, 1537-1543, September 2002
Copyright © 2002 by Lipid Research, Inc.

Optimizing DHA levels in piglets by lowering the linoleic acid to -linolenic acid ratio

Cordula Blank^*, Mark A. Neumann, Maria Makrides and Robert A. Gibson^1,

^* Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Flinders Medical Centre, Bedford Park, South Australia 5042, Australia
Child Nutrition Research Centre, Flinders Medical Centre, Bedford Park, South Australia 5042, Australia
Child Health Research Institute, North Adelaide, South Australia 5006, Australia

¹ To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: rgibson{at}flinders.edu.au

We examined the effect of altering the linoleic acid (LA, 18:2n-6) to -linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n-3) ratio in the dietary fats of 3 day old piglets fed formula for 3 weeks. The LA-ALA ratios of the experimental formulas were 0.5:1, 1:1, 2:1, 4:1, and 10:1. The level of LA was held constant at 13% of total fats while the level of ALA varied from 1.3% (10:1 group) to 26.8% (0.5:1 group). Incorporation of the n-3 long chain PUFA EPA and 22:5n-3 into erythrocytes, plasma, liver, and brain tissues was linearly related to dietary ALA. Conversely, incorporation of DHA into all tissues was related to dietary ALA in a curvilinear manner, with the maximum incorporation of DHA appearing to be between the LA-ALA ratios of 4:1 and 2:1. Feeding LA-ALA ratios of 10:1 and 0.5:1 resulted in lower and similar proportions of DHA in tissues despite the very different levels of dietary ALA (1.3 vs. 26.8% of total fats, respectively).

These results are relevant to term infant studies in that they confirm our earlier findings of the positive effect on DHA status by lowering the LA-ALA ratio from 10:1 to 3:1 or 4:1, and they predict that ratios of LA-ALA below 4:1 would have little further beneficial effect on DHA status.

Abbreviations: AA, arachidonic acid; ALA, -linolenic acid; FAME, fatty acid methyl ester; LA, linoleic acid; LCPUFA, long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid; PL, phospholipid; PMR, pig milk replacer

Supplementary key words brain • plasma • fatty acid metabolism • formula

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