Effects of Twelve Common Fatty Acids in the Diet upon the Composition of Liver Lipid in the Rat

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Abstract
To test whether effects and interactions of fatty acids when fed singly also apply in complex dietary mixtures, a study was undertaken using natural fats and mixtures. Twenty-one dietary fatty acid ester mixtures were prepared from common fats and oils plus small amounts of purified fatty acid esters. The compositions of these mixtures were adjusted to allow independent but simultaneous study of twelve of the dietary fatty acids. The lipid mixtures were fed as 10% of the dietary calories to groups of weanling male rats for 66 days. The rats were killed and the liver lipids extracted and analyzed for fatty acid content by gas chromatography. Metabolic interactions and conversions were indicated by intercorrelations calculated with the aid of a digital computer. Equations for estimating the amounts of 4 dietary fatty acids from analysis of tissue, and of 7 tissue fatty acids from an analysis of diet are presented. The linolenate requirement of the rat is estimated from these latter equations to be 0.14% of caloric intake. There are high, positive diet-tissue correlations between acids of the linoleate family and between acids of the linolenate family. The amounts of certain saturated and monoenoic fatty acids in the diet had marked effects upon these correlations.