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Influence of Dietary Fat on the Fatty Acid Composition of Monkey Erythrocytes¹

Department of Biochemistry, University of Arkansas School of Medicine, Little Rock, Arkansas and L. B. Mendel Research Laboratory, Elgin State Hospital, Elgin, Illinois

Young rhesus monkeys were fed purified diets containing 8% of lard and 3% of cod liver oil or the same diet with the fat omitted for 550 days. The animals fed the low-fat diet developed symptoms of fat deficiency which included scaliness and dryness of the skin, and loss of hair. The fatty acid composition of the erythrocytes was considerably different in the two groups of monkeys. The erythrocytes from the animals that received the low-fat diet contained higher concentrations of palmitoleic, oleic, and arachidonic acids and a lower concentration of linoleic acid. The concentration of eicosatrienoic acids was high in the erythrocytes of these monkeys, whereas high concentrations of docosahexaenoic acid and C_20–22 pentaneoic acids were noted in the erythrocytes from the monkeys given the diet that contained cod liver oil. These results emphasize that the fatty acid composition of structural lipids may be significantly influenced by the fatty acid content of the diet.

² This study was conducted during the tenure of a Russell M. Wilder-National Vitamin Foundation Fellowship.

Manuscript received 12 July 1961.