THE EFFECTS OF DIETARY OMEGA-3 FATTY-ACIDS ON PLATELET COMPOSITION AND FUNCTION IN MAN - A PROSPECTIVE, CONTROLLED-STUDY

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 58  (5) , 880-885
Abstract
The rarity of atherosclerotic vascular disease and a mild bruising tendency in Greenland Eskimos was linked to their ingestion of .omega.3 fatty acids contained in foods obtained from the sea. Whether salmon oil feeding would result in the incorporation of .omega.3 fatty acids into platelets and whether platelet function or platelet-vessel interactions would be altered were studied. Diets containing salmon oils led to the incorporation of eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5 .omega.3) into platelets (6.1%) with a reduction in arachidonic acid (C20:4 .omega.6). The ratio of C20:5/C20:4 increased from 0.0045 on the control diet to 0.3 on the salmon diet. Bleeding times were prolonged (from 6.75 to 10 min, P < 0.005), platelet retention on glass beads was mildly reduced (from 89 to 78%, P < 0.0005) and platelet aggregation in response to dilute concentrations of ADP was inhibited in the subjects ingesting the salmon oil. In normal subjects dietary .omega.3 fatty acids derived from salmon oil apparently are incorporated into platelet phospholipids. These changes apparently are accompanied by alterations in bleeding time and platelet function.