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Enrichment of (n-3) Fatty Acids of Suckling Rats by Maternal Dietary Menhaden Oil^1,2,

Nutrition Department, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802

The study was undertaken to determine whether the content of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in neonatal rats can be increased through milk provided by lactating mothers fed a diet containing 20% menhaden oil (experimental group), in comparison with a group fed a 20% corn oil diet (control group). The test diets were isocaloric and provided 41% of total energy as fat. Coinciding with 3–9% higher maternal body weight gain throughout the lactation period with the menhaden oil diet, the suckling rats in the experimental group at the ages of 3–9 d gained 5–10% more weight than did their control counterparts. When compared with corn oil, maternal dietary menhaden oil induced not only a higher weight percentage but also higher concentrations (µg/mL) of EPA, DHA and total (n-3) fatty acids in milk, plasma, platelets and erythrocytes of neonates. These changes were accompanied by lower arachidonic and linoleic acid levels. EPA and DHA were detected in all three blood components of the control group, whose corn oil diet contained linolenic acid but not longer chain (n-3) fatty acids. This finding, together with the higher DHA to EPA ratios found in the three blood components than in the milk of the experimental group, suggests that neonatal rats possess the enzymes necessary for producing DHA from EPA and linolenate by desaturation and elongation mechanisms.

KEY WORDS: • fish oil • (n-3) fatty acids • eicosapentaenoic acid • docosahexaenoic acid • arachidonic acid • neonatal rat

¹ Presented in part at the annual meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, New Orleans, LA, March 19–23, 1989 [WINTERS, B. L. & YEH, Y.-Y. (1989) Maternal dietary fish oil enriches omega-3 fatty acids of blood phospholipids of neonatal rats. FASEB J. 3: A1056 (abs.)].

² This work was supported in part by the College of Health and Human Development of The Pennsylvania State University and by a Biomedical Research Support Grant (NIH/The Pennsylvania State University).

³ To whom reprint requests should be addressed.

Manuscript received 10 July 1989. Revision accepted 13 December 1989.