Effect of Methyl Arachidonate Supplementation on the Fatty Acid Composition of Livers of Pyridoxine-Deficient Rats

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Abstract
The effect of vitamin B6 deficiency on the ability of the rat to deposit dietary arachidonate in the liver has been investigated. Vitamin B6-deficient young male rats, in which the liver arachidonate had been depleted by feeding a fat-free diet, were fed daily for 6 days a supplement of 40 mg of methyl arachidonate and 360 mg of cottonseed oil, with and without the addition of 3 μg of pyridoxine per day. The lipid supplement increased the percentage of liver arachidonate equally in the vitamin B6-deficient and the vitamin B6-supplemented groups although the net gain in liver arachidonate by the former group was less because of the smaller liver size. The lipid supplement had no effect on the body weight of the vitamin B6-deficient rats. Thus, vitamin B6-deficient rats fed arachidonate were able to maintain the same percentage of liver arachidonate as the pyridoxine-supplemented rats. Vitamin B6 deficiency appeared to affect liver retention of dietary arachidonate only indirectly by restricting liver size, which, in turn, determines to a large extent the total amount of arachidonate per liver.