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Is Dietary Arachidonic Acid Necessary for Feline Reproduction?¹

National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research, Rockville, MD 20852

A study was carried out to determine whether corn oil-based diets devoid of arachidonic acid, 20:4(n-6), are capable of supporting feline reproduction. One group of four adult female felines were acclinmated to a 10 weight% (wt%) fat diet consisting of 1 wt% corn oil and 9 wt% hydrogenated coconut oil for 1 mo before mating. One female produced two live offspring, and the other three females delivered either stillborn fetuses or offspring that were severely deformed and died shortly after birth. Two of these females were subsequently placed on a 1 wt% corn oil diet that was supplemented with 20:4(n-6) (200 mg/kg of diet), and after 2 mo they were mated. Offspring resulting from the second mating were healthy. A third group of females that were maintained on a 10 wt% fat diet consisting of 3 wt% corn oil were also mated. The offspring from these matings appeared healthy at birth. Neonates from each diet group were killed, and the fatty acyl composition of the livers, plasma and brains was analyzed. In the offspring livers and plasma, the level of 20:4(n-6) from both the 1 wt% or 3 wt% corn oil diet groups was about half that of offspring from those receiving 20:4(n-6) in the diet. There were no differences in the level of 20:4(n-6) in the neonate brains among any of the groups. This study suggests that nutritional factors unrelated to the tissue accumulation of arachidonic acid in the offspring may be responsible for the high percentage of stillbirths and deformities associated with maternal diets containing low amounts of essential fatty acids but that diets that contain a higher percentage of corn oil can support feline reproduction.

KEY WORDS: • arachidonic acid • polyunsaturated fatty acids • corn oil • feline reproduction

¹ Presented as part of the symposium "Biological Effects of Dietary Arachidonic Acid" given at the Experimental Biology '95 meeting, Atlanta, GA, on April 11, 1995. This symposium was sponsored by the American Institute of Nutrition and was supported by a grant from the Cayman Chemical Company. Guest editors for the symposium were Jay Whelan, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, and J. Bruce German, University of California, Davis, CA.

² To whom correspondence should be addressed: National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, 12501 Washington Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852.