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The Effects of Dietary -Linolenic Acid on the Composition of Nerve Membranes, Enzymatic Activity, Amplitude of Electrophysiological Parameters, Resistance to Poisons and Performance of Learning Tasks in Rats¹

Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, INSERM Unité 26, Hôpital Fernand Widal, 200 rue du Faubourg St-Denis, 75475 Paris Cedex 10 ^* Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA-CNRZ), 78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France

Feeding rats diets containing oils that have a low -linolenic acid [18:3(n-3)] content, such as sunflower oil, results in reduced amounts of docosahexaenoic acid [22:6(n-3)] and increased amounts of docosapentaenoic acid [22:5(n-6)] in all brain cells and organelles compared to rats fed a diet containing soybean oil or rapeseed oil. During the period of cerebral development there is a linear relationship between the n-3 fatty acid content of the brain and that of food until -linolenic acid represents 200 mg/100 g food [0.4% of the total dietary energy for 18:3(n-3)]. Beyond that point brain levels reach a plateau. Similar values are also found for other organs. The level of 22:6(n-3) in membranes is little affected by the dietary quantity of linoleic acid [18:2(n-6)] if 18:3(n-3) represents 0.4% of energy. In membranes from rats fed diets containing sunflower oil, Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase activity in nerve terminals was 60%, 5'-nucleotidase in whole brain homogenate was 80%, and 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase was 88% of that in membranes from rats fed diets containing soybean oil. A diet low in -linolenic acid leads to anomalies in the electroretinogram, which partially disappear with age. It has little effect on motor activity, but it seriously affects learning tasks as measured with the shuttle box test. Rats fed a diet low in -linolenic acid showed an earlier mortality in response to an intraperitoneal injection of a neurotoxin, triethyltin, than did rats fed a normal soybean oil diet.

KEY WORDS: • -linolenic acid • linoleic acid • polyunsaturated fatty acids • brain • peripheral nerve • myelin • synaptosomes • 5'-nucleotidase • liver • organs • nutrition • rats

¹ Supported in part by Centre Technique Interprofessionnel des Oléagineux Métropolitains (CETIOM) and Organisation Nationale Interprofessionnelle des Oléagineux (ONIDOL).

Manuscript received 23 November 1987. Revision accepted 9 August 1989.

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