PROMOTION OF MYOPATHY BY POLYUNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS OF COD LIVER OIL

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Experiments were conducted to determine the components of cod liver oil responsible for the promotion of nutritional muscular dystrophy in the chick. Supplementation of the dystrophogenic basal diet with 4% of cod liver oil markedly inhibited the protectiveness of selenium and the sulphur amino acids against development of the disorder. Results obtained from feeding various fractions of the oil demonstrated that none of the myopathy-promoting effect was related to the unsaponifiable or saturated fatty acids but was associated chiefly with the eicosapentaenoic (20:5) and docosahexaenoic (22:6) fatty acids. The significance of the results in the development of muscle degeneration is discussed in relation to known effects of dietary lipids and vitamin E deficiency on the composition and stability of cell membrane phospholipids.