The Open Physiology Journal
2011, 4 : 1-10Published online 2011 February 1. DOI: 10.2174/1874360901104010001
Publisher ID: TOPHYJ-4-1
The Metabolic Syndrome of ω3-Depleted Rats. X: Comprehensive View
ABSTRACT
The present report complements recent publications on the occurrence of a metabolic syndrome in rats deprived of a dietary supply of long-chain polyunsaturated ω3 fatty acids and on the attempt to correct the resulting metabolic and hormonal defects by exposure of the ω3-depleted rats to a diet enriched with flaxseed oil rich in α-linolenic acid (C18:3ω3). Emphasis is placed (i) on the much slower time course for the depletion in docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6ω3) and accumulation of docosapentaenoic acid (C22:5ω6) and their reversal during dietary deprivation and replenishment of ω3 fatty acids in brain phospholipids, as opposed to liver or intestinal phospholipids, (ii) on the role of circulating phospholipids in the transfer of C22:6ω3, synthesized from C18:3ω3 in hepatocytes, from the liver to the brain in the rats deprived of a dietary supply of ω3 fatty acids, and (iii) on the unfavorable effect of an increase in the total lipid content of the diet from 5 to 10% (w/w) in the perspective of the correction of liver steatosis and visceral obesity in the ω3-depleted rats.