Dietary Fat and the Structure and Properties of Rat Erythrocytes

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Abstract
The response of rat erythrocyte fatty acids to 4 fats of widely differing fatty acid compositions was investigated. The red cell fatty acids were susceptible to dietary influence but in a very specific manner. Short-chain dietary fatty acids, provided by butter and hydrogenated coconut oil, were not incorporated into the erythrocyte lipids to any appreciable extent. The “non-mammalian” hydroxy acid, ricinoleic acid, was not incorporated into the cell when castor oil was included in the diet. This was possibly due, in both cases, to the absence from the plasma of significant levels of the acids in question. Diets low in essential fatty acids resulted in low cellular concentrations of linoleic and arachidonic acids, with a concomitant accumulation of oleic and eicosatrienoic acids. The high dietary linoleic acid provided by corn oil resulted in the accumulation of this acid in the cell at the expense of the oleic acid. Fatty aldehydes, derived from the plasmalogen phosphatides, were also responsive to diet, linoleyl aldehyde increasing with increased dietary linoleate.