Role of fatty acids in health and disease.

National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

We made progress on two major topics related to this project in the past year, which has resulted in the below publications and the filing of several patents. Using a mouse model, we demonstrated that supplementation of chow with a conventional soybean oil lowers plasma lipids but increases development of atherosclerosis. In contrast, supplementation with a modified soybean oil designed to be enriched in oleic acid and lower in linoleic acid did not as effectively lower plasma lipids but decreased atherosclerosis in mice. Furthermore, we showed that linoleic acid is converted to arachidonic acid in mice on the conventional soybean oil and increases their propensity for inflammation, which may be a possible explanation for why conventional soybean oil increases atherosclerosis. These results have recently been published and have potentially important implications in improving the diet in humans for the prevention of cardiovascular disease but will have to be examined in a future human clinical trial. In our other major project related to fatty acids, we fed old (>12 months) apoE-KO mice a novel blend of Very Long Chain Fatty acids (VLCPUFA) purified from fish oil that were enriched in C24:5. Although the VLCPUFAs in the retina and brain are often over 30 carbons long, we found that C24:5 has good bioavailability and is elongated in target organs. After two month supplementation, the mice showed improved vision as measured by ERG, as well as improved cognitive function in a battery of tests. We also demonstrated that VLPUFAs are more potent PPAR-alpha agonists than either EPA and DHA and lowered plasma lipids and glucose and decreased atherosclerosis. A manuscript is currently be reviewed on this project and we filed several patents on these findings.