Essential Fatty Acids in Tissue Phospholipids and Triglycerides of the Zinc-Deficient Rat

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Abstract
The possibility that Zn deficiency has different effects on the fatty acid composition of triglyceride compared to total phospholipid is discussed. Male weanling Sprague-Dawley rats were maintained for 6 wk on a semisynthetic diet deficient in Zn (3 mg/kg Zn). Control rats (40 mg/kg Zn) were pair-fed. Lipid fractionation and fatty acid analysis were by TLC and gas chromatography, respectively. In Zn-deficient rats, the percentage of linoleic acid was increased or that of arachidonic acid was decreased in total phospholipids of plasma, liver and testis, and in skin total lipids. Saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids were increased in the triglyceride of liver but decreased in the triglyceride of epididymal fat of Zn-deficient rats. Essential fatty acids, as a proportion of total fatty acids, were decreased in triglyceride of liver but increased in triglyceride of epididymal fat of Zn-deficient rats. Fatty acid data from tissue total phospholipids therefore support the concept that linoleic acid desaturation is impaired in Zn deficiency.