Abstract:

Objective In this study the effects of dietary n-3 and n-6 fatty acids on brain accretion of docosahexaenoic acid(DHA) and arachidonic acids(AA) were investigated.Methods C57BL/6J female adult mice were fed three different high-fat(18% fat by weight supplying 36% of total energy) diets: soy oil,fish oil and soy:fish oil(5:1) respectively with normal chow diet(6% of fat as soy oil supplying 12% of total energy) as control,for a period of 4 months.Also some mice were mated for breeding new mice with high-fat diets being started 1 month before mating and ended at 2 months following mouse birth.Brain fatty acids were analyzed by gas chromatography and expressed as percent(%) of total fatty acids.Results No differences were found in the effects of dietary fat on DHA and AA levels in brain between young mice and adult mice.Compared to soy oil-fed mice,AA accretion in brain was decreased with no changes in DHA accretion leading to increased DHA/AA ratio in fish oil-fed mice,whereas no changes in both DHA and AA accretion were found but DHA/AA ratio was increased in soy:fish oil-fed mice.Conclusion Increased intake of fish oil n-3 triglycerides does not enhance DHA accretion but increases DHA/AA ratio in mouse brain.

Key words: n-3 fatty acids, n-6 fatty acids, brain, mice