Journal of Lipid Research, Vol. 8, 661-666, November 1967
Copyright © 1967 by Lipid Research, Inc.

Positional distribution of isomers of monoenoic fatty acids in animal glycerolipids

H. Brockerhoff and R. G. Ackman

Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Halifax Laboratory, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

The distributions of the following monoenoic acids were determined [notation: (position of double bond)-(chain length): (no. of double bonds)]: 7-, 9-, and 11-16:1; 7-, 9-, 11-, and 13-18:1; 9-, 11-, and 13-20:1; 9 + 11-22:1 and 13-22:1. As a rule, all isomers of a group show different distribution patterns. In the phospholipids of fish and mammals, the 7- and 13-isomers of 18:1 accumulate in position 1. In triglycerides of mammals fed on fish they accumulate in positions 1 plus 3, and this distribution is shared by 7-16:1 and 11-16:1 and by the groups 20:1 and 22:1. The positional distribution of the acids seems to depend on their structure, the 9-isomers in general accumulating in position 2; but in triglycerides, at least, the origin of the acid also seems to play a directing role, the exogenous acids being incorporated into positions 1 and 3. The variability of the distribution patterns of 9-16:1, 9-18:1, and 11:18:1, which contrasts with the regularity of the patterns for saturated and polyenoic acids, may be connected with the ability of the endogenous monoenoic acids to balance fluctuations in the supply of the exogenous polyenoic acids, and with the role of the fatty acid 9,10-dehydrogenation mechanism in the maintenance of structural and physical properties of phospholipids and triglycerides.

Supplementary key words monoenoic fatty acids • isomers • positional distribution • phospholipids • triglycerides • depot fat • whale milk fat • egg lecithin • fish • mammals • 9,10-dehydrogenation system

Submitted on June 12, 1967
Accepted on August 9, 1967

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