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A relationship between essential fatty acid and vitamin E deficiency
Author(s) -
Subramanian Carole S.,
Mead James F.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
lipids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.601
H-Index - 120
eISSN - 1558-9307
pISSN - 0024-4201
DOI - 10.1007/bf02534059
Subject(s) - lipidology , clinical chemistry , fatty acid , food science , chemistry , biochemistry , medicine
To test whether vitamin E deficiency might influence the course of essential fatty acid (EFA) deficiency, Long Evans rats were fed diets containing a marginal amount (1.5% of calories) of 18∶2ω6 or 18∶3ω3 fatty acid with complete absence of the other and with or without vitamin E. Vitamin E contents decreased continuously in serum and liver in all rats fed the E‐free diets but in the brains of only the rats fed the marginal 18∶3ω3, E‐free diet. It is considered that the vitamin E is cooxidized in the liver with 22∶6ω3, since this fatty acid is very low in livers of the rats fed the marginal 18∶2ω6 diet but much higher in livers of the rats fed the marginal 18∶3ω3 diet. Brain 22∶6ω3 values are comparable for both groups. The source of 22∶6ω3 is evidently in the mother's milk, since following weaning there is a precipitous drop in 22∶6ω3 in serum, liver and carcass of rats on the 18∶2ω6‐containing diet. No significant signs of EFA deficiency were seen in the E‐deficient rats.