QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Reichwald-Hacker, I. Articles by Mukherjee, K. D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Reichwald-Hacker, I. Articles by Mukherjee, K. D.

Vaccenic Acid in Tissue Lipids and its Positional Distribution in Glycerolipids of Rats Fed a Polyunsaturated Fat Diet

Federal Center for Lipid Research, Piusallee 68/76, D-4400 Münster, Germany

The distribution of vaccenic acid (cis-11-octadecenoic acid) was studied in the tissue lipids of rats, fed a diet supplemented with soybean oil, which contained very little (ca. 1%) vaccenic acid. Maximum proportions of vaccenic acid in the octadecenoic acids were found in the total lipids of heart, followed by those of liver, adipose tissue, and blood serum. In the triacylglycerols of heart, liver, and adipose tissue, vaccenic acid was preferentially esterified in the 1,3-positions, whereas oleic acid was almost equally distributed between the 1,3- and 2-positions. In the triacylglycerols of serum, vaccenic acid was preferentially esterified in the 2-position. In the phosphatidylcholines of heart, vaccenic acid predominated in the 2-position, whereas in serum it was most commonly found in the 1-position. In both tissues, oleic acid was equally distributed between 1- and 2-positions. In the phosphatidylcholines of liver, vaccenic acid was equally distributed between 1- and 2-positions, whereas oleic acid preferred the 1-position. Unesterified vaccenic and oleic acids in serum were derived mainly from the triacylglycerols of adipose tissue. The lipolytic enzymes did not appear to differentiate between triacylglycerols containing either of these acids. In the cholesteryl esters of liver, oleic acid predominated over vaccenic acid, which confirms the strong specificity of acyl-CoA:cholesterol-O-acyltransferase for oleoyl-CoA. In the cholesteryl esters of serum, the levels of vaccenic and oleic acids were similar to those in the 2-position of phosphatidylcholines of liver, which shows that lecithincholesterol-acyltransferase (LCAT) readily accepts each of these acids as substrate.

KEY WORDS: • vaccenic acid • glycerolipids • positional distribution • tissue lipids

¹ Present address: Institut für Arterioskleroseforschung, D-4400 Münster, Germany.

Manuscript received 22 May 1978.