The origin and metabolism of marine fatty acids: The effect of diet on the depot fats of mugil cephalus (The common mullet)

It appears that young mullet make excellent experimental fish for dietary studies. They are hardy, easily caught, resistant to disease, and take well to aquaria conditions. Of particular interest, they may be fed synthetic food and they resist changes in salinity well. These experiments indicate that, on a fatfree diet, the mullet does not synthesize the large amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids normally found in its body fat. However the mullet, like land animals, can apparently convert dienoic acid from cottonseed oil into small amounts of tetraenoic, pentaenoic, and hexaenoic acids. Unlike land animals, the mullet appears to be capable of the conversion of linoleic acid to a trienoic acid. Finally, when fed a diet containing a typical marine fat such as menhaden oil, the mullet stores it almost unchanged.     

Alteration of hepatic phospholipids in rats and mice by feeding di-(2-ethylhexyl)adipate and di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate

Effects of di-(2-ethylhexyl)adipate (DOA) and di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), plasticizers for polyvinylchloride products, on concentrations and compositions of hepatic phospholipids were studied in rats. When administered to rats at a 2% level for 2 wk, both DOA and DEHP caused a hepatomegaly, an increase in hepatic phospholipids and a decrease in the ratio of phosphatidylcholine (PC) to phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). In the comparable study with mice, the alkyl moiety of DOA was found to be responsible for these alterations. DOA and DEHP specifically altered fatty acid compositions of PC and PE: there was an increase in oleic and palmitic acids and a decrease in stearic and docosahexaenoic acids in PC and an increase in arachidonic acid at the expense of docosahexaenoic acid in PE. In addition, DOA caused an increase in the trienoic and tetraenoic molecular species in PC and an increase in the 1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonyl (16∶0//20∶4) species in PE. Thus, the effects of DOA on the lipid dynamics resembled those observed with DEHP, although the magnitude was slightly moderated.     

Positional isomers of unsaturated fatty acids in rat liver lipids

The fatty acids of liver lipids from rats raised on a fat free diet from the 30th to the 90th day after birth were analyzed with special regard to the detection of positional isomers of mono-, di-, tri-, and tetraenoic fatty acids. The methyl esters obtained after transesterification of total lipids were separated by argentation chromatography into five fractions: I saturated, II monoenoic, III dienoic, IV dienoic nonmethylene interrupted, V triand tetraenoic fatty acid esters. After hydroxylation of the double bonds with osmium tetroxide, the analysis of the poly-O-trimethylsilyl derivatives by gas liquid chromatography on S.C.O.T. columns combined with mass spectrometry revealed the presence of 19 monoenoic, 15 dienoic, and 9 trienoic as well as 3 tetraenoic fatty acid isomers including the normally occurring representatives of the (n−3), (n−6), (n−7), and (n−9) fatty acid families. The majority of the identified isomers can be coordinated to one of these families like 7–16∶1; 11–20∶1; 6,9–18∶2; 8,11–20∶2; 5,11–20∶2; 5,8,11–20∶3; 7,10,13–22∶3 to the (n−9) family, 11–18∶1; 13–20∶1; 5,11–18∶2; 7,13–20∶2; 6,11–18∶2; 6,9–16∶2; 8, 11–18∶2; 10,13–20∶2; 5,8,11–18∶3; 7,10,13–20∶3; 4,7,10,13–20∶4 to the (n−7) family and 11,14–20∶2; 5,11,14–20∶3; 6,9,12–18∶3; 8,11,14–20∶3; 5,8,11,14–20∶4; 7,10,13,16–22∶4 to the (n−6) family. All these naturally occuring isomers can be placed into a network of desaturation and chain elongation steps which allows certain conclusions about the substrate specificity of the Δ6-, Δ5-and Δ4-desaturase systems. The great number of isomers found in the (n−7) family indicates that the members of this family are actively metabolized in partial essential fatty acid deficiency.     

Molecular species composition of the major diacyl glycerophospholipids from muscle,liver, retina and brain of cod (Gadus morhua)

The molecular species composition of phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylserine (PS) from white muscle, liver, retina and brain of cod (Gadus morhua) were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography of the respective 1,2-diacylglycerol 3,5-dinitrobenzoyl derivatives. A minimum of 69 diacyl species was identified. In muscle and liver saturated fatty acid/polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and monounsaturated fatty acid/PUFA molecular species were predominant, particularly 16∶0/20∶5 and 16∶0/22∶6 in PC, 16∶0/22∶6 and 18∶1/22∶6 in PE and 18∶0/22∶6 and 18∶1/22∶6 in PS. Didocosahexaenoyl species were major components of PC, PE and PS from retina, comprising 29.3, 71.8 and 59.7% of the respective totals. Didocosahexaenoyl species were also abundant in PE and PS from brain, accounting for 13.8 and 24.0% of the totals, respectively. DiPUFA species were important in muscle, totalling 21.2% in PC and 38.3% in PE. PC from all tissues had the largest amounts of species containing only saturated or monounsaturated fatty acids, accounting for 59.8% of PC from brain, including 12.8% of 18∶1/24∶1 plus 24∶1/18∶1.     

Incorporation of arachidonic,dihomogamma linolenic and eicosapentaenoic acids into cultured V79 cells

The uptake and distribution of three common dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids was studied using Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts (V79 cells). Treatment of V79 cells with arachidonic (20∶4), eicosapentaenoic (20∶5) and dihomogammalinolenic (20.3) acids for 24 hr produced a marked uptake of 20∶3 and 20∶4, both of which were assimilated to a considerably greater degree than 20∶5. All polyunsaturated fatty acids were incorporated primarily into phospholipids; however, there were considerable differences in their distribution into individual phospholipid species. Although 20∶4 was incorporated primarily into phosphatidylcholine, 20∶3 entered largely into phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol, and 20∶5 was distributed about equally between phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol. A marked conversion of 20∶3 to 20∶4 was found after 24 hr and, in several phospholipids, there was as much derived-radiolabeled 20∶4 as there was radiolabeled 20∶3. There was little evidence of 20∶4 and 20∶5 metabolism. V79 cells undergo substantial changes in phospholipid fatty acid composition following supplementation with these polyunsaturated fatty acids; however, these fatty acids are assimilated to different degrees and their distribution among cellular phospholipids is distinct, suggesting incorporation via independent mechanisms.     

Molecular architecture and biophysical properties of phospholipids during thermal adaptation in fish: An experimental and model study

Phospholipids from livers of carps (Cyprinus carpio L.) adapted to winter (5°C) and summer (25°C) temperatures were isolated, and the fatty acid composition of total phospholipids, as well as molecular species composition of diacyl phosphatidylcholines and ethanolamines, were determined. Order parameter of 5-doxyl stearic acid and steady-state fluorescence anisotropy of different anthroyloxy fatty acids—[2-, 12(N-9-anthroyloxy)stearic acid and 16(N-9-anthroyloxy)palmitic acid—embedded in native and synthetic (16∶0/16∶0, 16∶0/22∶6, 18∶0/22∶6, 18∶1/22∶6, 20∶4/20∶4, 22∶6/22∶6 phosphatidylcholines and 16∶0/18∶1, 18∶1/22∶6 phosphatidylethanolamines) phospholipid vesicles was also determined between −30 and 30°C and 5 and 30°C, respectively. There is an accumulation of 1-monoenoic, 2-polyenoic diacyl phosphatidylcholine and ethanolamine with a concomitant reduction of 1-stearoyl,2-docosahexaenoyl species in the cold-adapted state. Despite a 30% accumulation of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in phospholipids in cold, there is only a 5°C downshift in the solid-gel to liquid-crystalline phase transition temperature (−8 vs. −13°C). Vesicles from total phospholipids of cold-adapted fish proved to be more disordered in all segments than from the warmadapted ones when assayed using 2,12-(N-9-anthroyloxy)stearic and 16-(N-9-anthroyloxy)palmitic acid. Vesicles made from purified phosphatidylcholines showed the same pattern, but they were more disordered than the corresponding total phospholipids. This could be modelled using mixed phospholipid vesicles made of synthetic 16∶0/22∶6 phosphatidylcholine (75%) and either 18∶1/22∶6 phosphatidylethanolamine (25%) vs. 16∶0/18∶1 phosphatidylethanolamine (25%) and comparison of the anisotropy parameters of 100% 16∶0/22∶6 and 100% 18∶1/22∶6 phosphatidylcholine vesicles. Mixing either 16∶0/18∶1 (25%) or 18∶1/22∶6 (25%) phosphatidylethanolamines to 18∶0/22∶6 (75%) phosphatidylcholine shifted down or up, respectively, the transition temperature of vesicles compared to 100% 18∶0/22∶6 vesicles assayed by electron spin resonance spectroscopy using 5-doxylstearic acid. It is concluded that it is not the gross amount of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in phospholipids, but rather their specific combination withcis Δ9 monounsaturated fatty acids in the positionsn-1, especially in phosphatidylethanolamines, that is important in determining the physical properties of biomembranes in relation to adaptational temperature.     

Effects of dietary protein and cholesterol on phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine molecular species in mouse liver

The present study examined the effects of two atherogenic factors, animal protein and cholesterol, on the distribution of fatty acids and the molecular species of major liver phospholipids in mice. Weanling mice were fed a semisynthetic diet supplemented with either casein or soy protein (20%, w/w) in the presence or absence of 0.5% cholesterol for 4 wk. Results from mouse liver showed that animal protein and, more so, dietary cholesterol modified the fatty acid profiles of the phospholipids. Animal protein had no significant effect on the concentration of lipids, but it altered the relative distribution and fatty acid profiles of the phospholipids, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine. Dietary cholesterol, on the other hand, significantly increased the concentration of liver lipids, but it did not alter the relative distribution of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine. In cholesterol-fed mice, the proportions of molecular species containing 18∶2n−6 were increased, whereas those containing 20∶4n−6 were decreased, indicating that dietary cholesterol suppressed linoleic acid metabolism. Since cholesterol feeding selectively decreased the ratio of 18∶0/20∶4n−6 in phosphatidylcholine, whereas it increased the 18∶0/18∶2n−6 ratio in phosphatidylethanolamine, this finding suggests that dietary cholesterol may affect the incorporation of fatty acids but not the rate of synthesis of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine.     

The fractionation of marine-oil fatty acids with urea

Summary In two series of experiments, marine-animal-oil fatty acids were fractionated with urea using methanol as solvent. In the first series, menhaden-oil fatty acids were fractionated at 1°C. Almost all the saturated and monoenoic fatty acids were removed at mole ratios of 12∶1 to 13∶1. At higher ratios increasing amounts of the less stable dienoic fatty acids were precipitated. By the use of the appropriate ratio, fractions having iodine values above 300 were prepared. In the second series, fatty acids from the oils of menhaden, herring, tuna, seal, salmon eggs, and salmon heads and viscera were fractionated at a mole ratio of urea to fatty acid of 9.2∶1. At 25° and 1° the complexes were composed almost entirely of saturated and monoenoic fatty acids, but as the temperature was lowered to −30°, the content of dienoic fatty acids in the precipitates increased. Presented at the Regional American Chemical Society Meeting, Richland, Wash., June 11–12, 1954. One of the laboratories of the Branch of Commercial Fisheries, Fish and Wildlife Service, U. S. Department of the Interior.     

Fatty acid composition of subcellular particles from sheep platelets and topological distribution of phosphatidylethanolamine fatty acids in the plasma membrane

The fatty acid composition of individual phospholipids in subcellular fractions of sheep platelets and the asymmetrical distribution of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) fatty acyl chains across the plasma membrane were examined. The main fatty acids of total lipid extracts were oleic (18∶1; 32–41%), linoleic (18∶2, 10–17%), stearic (18∶0; 13–15%), palmitic (16∶0; 11–15%) and arachidonic (20∶4; 8–12%) acids, with a saturated/unsaturated ratio of about 0.4. Each phospholipid class had a distinct fatty acid pattern. Sphingomyelin (SM) showed the highest degree of saturation (50%), with large proportions of behenic (22∶0), 18∶0 and 16∶0 acids. The main fatty acid in PE, phosphatidylserine (PS) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) was 18∶1n−9. Our findings suggest that fatty acids are asymmetrically distributed between thecholineversus the non-choline phospholipids, and also between plasma membranes and intracellular membranes. The transbilayer distribution of PE fatty acids in plasma membranes from non-stimulated sheep platelets was investigated using trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS). A significant degree of asymmetry was found, which is a new observation in a non-polar cell. The PE molecules from the inner monolayer contained higher amounts of 18∶2 and significantly less 18∶1 and 20∶5 than those found in the outer monolayer, although no major differences were detected in the transbilayer distribution of total unsaturatedversus saturated PE acyl chains.     

Influence of dietary fatty acids on the glycerophospholipid composition in organs of cod (gadus morhua)

Cod (mean start weight of 26 g) were fed three diets for 15 months, each based on a dry pellet coated at a level of 9g/100 g with soybean oil, capelin oil or sardine oil. The fatty acid compositions of neutral lipids and four glycerophospholipids of white muscle, liver, gills and heart were determined. The fatty acid composition of dietary lipids influenced the composition of neutral lipids in all organs. Linoleic acid (18∶2n−6) from soybean oil was selectively incorporated into phosphatidylcholine of the four tissues. Similar levels of 20∶5n−3 and 22∶6n−3 in phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine were found in all organs from cod fed capelin oil and sardine oil in spite of highly differentiated feed fatty acid levels. The polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) composition of phosphatidylinositol was least influenced by dietary lipids. The preferred monoenic fatty acid in phospholipids of cod was 18∶1n−9, independent of dietary intake, whereas the longer chain monoenoic acids seemed to be preferentially catabolized. The results suggest that 20∶4n−6 as well as 20∶5n−3 and 22∶6n−3 fatty acids are essential for cod.     

Phospholipids of the South African pilchard(Sardina ocellata Jenyns)

Chromatographic resolution of phospholipids from the flesh of the South African pilchard(Sardina ocellata Jenyns) revealed the presence of cardiolipins, cephalins, inositol phosphatides, cerebrosides, sphingomyelins, lecithins, lysoleci-thins and plasmalogens. Column and paper Chromatographic techniques were used to identify ethanolamine, serine, cho-line, sphinogsine and inositol in pilchard phos-pholipid hydrolysates. The fatty acids of pilchard phospholipids com-prised large amt of C₂₂ hexaenoic, C₂₀ pentaenoic and C₁₆ saturated acids, with smaller amt of C₁₈ dienoic, C₁₈ monoenoic and C₁₈ saturated acids.     

Lipids of cultured hepatoma cells: II. Effect of media lipids on cellular phospholipids

Minimal deviation hepatoma cells were cultured in a modified Swim's 77 medium supplemented with decreasing amounts of serum, lipid-free serum, and lipid-free serum containing added palmitic or linoleic acids. Cellular phospholipids were extracted and the class distribution determined quantitatively. The fatty acid composition of each phospholipid class was determined, and the percentages from cells grown on each of the various media were compared. Cellular phospholipid class and fatty acid compositions differed from media compositions, indicating that intact serum phospholipids are not incorporated into cellular structures. Phosphatidylcholine percentages decreased as the media serum and lipid levels decreased, while phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylethanolamine percentages increased. Sphingomyelin of cells grown in medium containing added linoleic acids contained a high level of a 24∶2 acid. All classes, except sphingomyelin, contained elevated levels of 18∶1 acid and decreased levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids, relative to normal rat liver. Cells cultured on lipid-free medium did not contain increased concentrations of 20∶3 acid, suggesting that this hepatoma cell cannot desaturate monoenoic acids. Phosphoglycerides of cells, grown on lipid-free medium, had the highest monoene fatty acid concentration, whereas those cells grown on media containing added linoleic acid had the lowest concentrations, suggesting that linoleate may inhibit or regulate monoenoic acid biosynthesis in this cell. These mass data also demonstrate that monoenoic fatty acid biosynthesis in this cultured hepatoma cell responds to dietary changes.     

Synthesis of phosphatidylcholine with (n−3) fatty acids by phospholipase A 2 in microemulsion

Phosphatidylcholine containing a long chain polyunsaturated acyl group at the 2-position has been prepared by phospholipase A 2 catalyzed esterification of lysophosphatidylcholine with polyunsaturated fatty acids EPA (C20∶5) or DHA (C22∶6). Preliminary studies showed that the other fatty acids, such as lauric acid (C12), palmitic acid (C16), stearic acid (C18) and linoleic acid (C18∶2), were also incorporated. To our knowledge, phospholipase A 2 catalyzed condensation reactions have not been reported in the literature before. The reactions were performed in sodiumbis(2-ethylhexyl)-sulfosuccinate-based microemulsions containing small amounts of water. Synthesis of the same phospholipid by transesterification of phosphatidylcholine with the polyunsaturated acids in microemulsion failed; however, enzymatic hydrolysis to lysophosphatidylcholine was facile, quantitative conversion from phosphatidylcholine being attained after 16 hr reaction time. An additional observation was that, unlike enzymatic hydrolysis of phospholipids, the condensation reaction catalyzed by phospholipase A 2 was totally independent of the presence of calcium.     

Myogenic differentiation of the muscle clonal cell line BC3H-1 is accompanied by changes in its lipid composition

Phospholipid and neutral lipid composition was studied in the course of myogenic differentiation of the clonal cell line BC3H-1. Total phospholipid content increased during differentiation, predominantly in the major classes of choline and ethanolamine glycerophospholipids. The contents of other lipids, such as triacylglycerols, diminished more than 50% during this period. The content and distribution of fatty acids also underwent marked differentiation-dependent changes. The polyunsaturated (tetrapenta- and hexaenoic) fatty acid species of several phospholipid classes diminished during differentiation, especially those in choline, serine and inositol glycerophospholipids. Most noticeable were the changes in phosphatidylserine; long-chain fatty acids having 20 to 22 carbon atoms and 4 to 6 double bonds decreased from about 30 to about 10 mol%. Although increased levels of saturation in other phospholipid fatty acyl chains appear to accompany the myogenic changes of BC3H-1 cells, some unsaturated fatty acids, such as oleic acid (18∶1), increased by as much as 80% during the same period, suggesting the activation of a Δ9 desaturase. Sphingomyelin contained only saturated and monoenoic fatty acids and exhibited a four- to five-fold decrease in its content of monoenoic acyl groups. Diacylglycerols became enriched in arachidonate and docosahexaenoate. The amount of cholesterol and its esters increased slightly during differentiation of BC3H-1 cells. The data show that several metabolic pathways change during myogenic differentiation of the BC3H-1 clonal cell line, particularlyde novo biosynthetic pathways, elongation/desaturation reactions, and acyl chain turnover. As a consequence of this, the lipid composition of the myoblast form of the BC3H-1 cell, in which the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and other cell surface receptors are expressed, is thus different from that of the nondifferentiated cell.     

Further evidence for the interconversion of monophosphoinositides in vivo

The incorporation of³H-inositol into the molecular species of rat liver monophosphoinositides was studied as a function of time. At early time intervals following intraperitoneal injection of the tracer, the specific activity of the monoenoic and dienoic species exceeded that of the total and tetraenoic inoisitides by 7- and 14-fold. From 90 min to 9 hr, the specific activity of the unfractionated phosphatide remained nearly constant while the pronounced decrease in activity [of the monoenoic and dienoic subfractions was concomitant with an increase in the radioactivity of the tetraenoic species, as found previously with³²P- and¹⁴C-glycerol. The present results suggest that the entire glycerophosphorylinositol backbone originally associated with the monoenoic and dienoic monophosphoinositides is converted into tetraenoic species with remarkable conservation of label in vivo.     

Membrane lipid metabolism and phospholipase activity in insect Spodoptera frugiperda 9 ovarian cells

Although there is increasing use of insect ovarian Sf9 cells for the production of recombinant proteins, namely, via the baculovirus vector expression system, little is known about the lipids in the cell membrane and whether endogenous phospholipases are present for regulation of the cell membrane lipids. In this study, analysis of membrane lipids of Sf9 cells indicated the presence of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) (diacyltype) and phosphatidylcholine as major phospholipids, followed by phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylinositol (PI), and only trace amounts of ethanolamine plasmalogen. These phospholipids contain high proportions of monoenoic fatty acids, e.g., 16∶1 and 18∶1, which comprise more than 70% of the total fatty acids although small amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids such as 18∶2 and 20∶4 are also present. When Sf9 cells were incubated in a culture medium containing [¹⁴C]oleic acid and [¹⁴C]arachidonic acid, a large portion of the labels were incorporated into membrane phospholipids. Using [¹⁴C]arachidonoyl-phospholipids as substrates for incubation with cell homogenate and subcellular fractions, results indicate the presence of a Ca2⁺-independent phospholipase A (PLA₂) in the Sf9 cell cytosol fraction. This PLA₂ shows a high preference for hydrolysis of PE and is active at a pH range of 7–9. Unlike the brain cells which contain active phospholipase C (PLC) specific for phosphatidylinositol, only limited amount of diacylglycerol (DAG) was released from [¹⁴C]arachidonoyl-PE in the Sf9 cells. Taken together, this study demonstrates active metabolism of membrane phospholipids in Sf9 cells, most likely mediated by acyltransferases and PLA₂. Furthermore, despite the absence of PLC for PI, limited amount of DAG could be generated through hydrolysis of PE.     

Estimation of polyunsaturated fatty acid content in lipids of aquatic organisms using thin-layer chromatography on a plain silica gel plate

We have designed a rapid method for the separation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA, ≥trienes) from non-PUFA, and for estimation of total amounts of PUFA in lipids of aquatic organisms. Lipids from thirty-one species, including marine and fresh water fishes, shell fishes, marine algae, and other aquatic animals, and from terrestrial organisms, were transesterified with sodium methoxide in methanol. The resulting fatty acid methyl esters were separated by thin-layer chromatography on commercially available plain silica gel plates with a developing solvent ofn-hexane/ethyl ether/acetic acid (95∶5∶1, by vol). All of the methyl esters from aquatic organisms tested separated into two spots, whereas those from terrestrial sources, except for linseed oil, showed a single unresolved spot. The upper and lower spots were scraped separately from the plate, and their fatty acid compositions were determined by gas-liquid chromatography. The lower spot was composed of PUFA having more than two double bonds, whereas components of the upper spot were saturated, monoenoic, and the greater part of the dienoic fatty acids. When the spots on the silica gel plate were stained with Coomassie brilliant blue, the amounts of PUFA in aquatic organisms could be estimated satisfactorily using a scanning densitometer. Presented in Japanese at the general Meeting of JSSF held in Mie University, Tsu-city, Japan, October 1994.     

Characterization of fatty acids from root and shoot lipids ofCapsicum species

Lipids were extracted from the roots and shoots of four species of theCapsicum (pepper) genus and separated into three fractions: triglycerides; free fatty acids, mono- and diglycerides; and phospholipids. The component fatty acids were determined by subjecting the methyl esters to gasliquid chromatography. The predominate fatty acids obtained were palmitic (16∶0) and linoleic (18∶2), with lesser amounts of linolenic (18∶3), stearic (18∶1), and oleic (18∶0). Differences existed in the neutral lipid fractions which might be of value from taxonomic interests; however, the phospholipids from each of the species and plant parts did not differ so greatly. A comparison of the amount of unsaturated fatty acids in the phospholipid fractions indicates that differences exist which might be of value in determining the relative sensitivity of the several species to chilling temperatures.     

Interferon α/β induces changes in the metabolism of polyenoic phospholipids and diacylglycerols in the livers of suckling mice

Suckling mice were injected daily from birth for 10 days with potent preparations of mouse interferon α/β. Interferon treatment resulted in a markedly lower concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids (20∶4ω6 and 22∶6ω3) in the two principal liver phospholipids, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine, than in livers of control-treated mice. This effect appeared to correlate with a low level of synthesis of polyunsaturated phospholipids in the livers of interferon-treated mice. Thus, in control mice, synthesis of species of polyunsaturated phospholipids increased markedly in the first 10 days of life, whereas in 10-day-old interferontreated mice, the level of synthesis of species of polyunsaturated phospholipids was comparable to that in newborn mice. In parallel, a marked increase in the diacylglycerol content without change of its renewal was observed in the livers of interferon-treated mice. We suggest that interferon treatment results in an inhibition of one of the processes that leads to activation of the enzymatic systems responsible for the synthesis of species of polyunsaturated phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine in the liver of suckling mice. It seems likely that these results are related to the inhibition of liver cell maturation and the marked cell necrosis that are observed in interferon-treated suckling mice.     

Separation and identification of isomeric conjugated fatty acids by high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection

A simple, high-performance liquid chromatographic method is described for the separation of tetraenoic, trienoic and dienoic conjugated fatty acids on a Zorbax ODS reversed-phase column using acetonitrile/tetrahydrofuran (95∶5, vol/vol) at a flow rate of 1.2 mL/min as mobile phase. Also described is the separation of the isomeric conjugated fatty acids with acetonitrile/water/tetrahydrofuran (90∶90∶1, by vol) as mobile phase. The simultaneous detection and identification of the separated geometrical isomers in the eluant was accomplished using photodiode array detection.