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Assessment of the Essential Fatty Acid Requirement in Gerbils by Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Ratio¹

Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115

Essential fatty acid status in the gerbil was assessed using the ratio of 20:39 (5,8,11-eicosatrienoic acid) to 20:46 (arachidonic acid) derived from liver phospholipid. Both a fat-free diet and a diet containing 20% hydrogenated coconut oil produced an essential fatty acid deficiency. The minimum requirement for 18:26 (linoleic acid) in the gerbil, like that in the rat, was estimated at 1% kcal of the diet when graded levels of safflower oil were added to a purified diet containing hydrogenated coconut oil. Dietary cholesterol did not affect the minimum requirement, but accentuated the triene:tetraene ratio when the dietary linoleate level was below the requirement.

KEY WORDS: • essential fatty acid • saturated fat • cholesterol • gerbils

¹ Supported in part by U.S. Public Health Service Research Grant HL-12399 from the National Institutes of Health and the Fund for Research and Teaching, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health.

² Present address: Human Nutrition Center, Science & Education Administration U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250.

Manuscript received 17 December 1980.