QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Coniglio, J. G. Articles by Aylward, S. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Coniglio, J. G. Articles by Aylward, S.

Metabolism of Ethyl Arachidonate-l-C¹⁴ in Rats Fed Complete or Fat-free Diets¹

Department of Biochemistry, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee

Rats fed complete or fat-free diets absorbed 69 to 77% of a tracer dose of orally administered ethyl arachidonate-1-C¹⁴ in 6 hours. The arachidonate-1-C¹⁴ was 95% pure by gas-liquid radiochromatography and was used without further purification. Of the activity absorbed the amount expired as C¹⁴O₂ was 7% by the animals fed the fat-free diet and 10% by those fed the complete diet and by rats fed the fat-free diet but given acute supplementations of arachidonic acid. A small amount of C¹⁴-activity was observed in liver, heart, and testes; the bulk of the radioactivity was in the carcass. About 25% of the administered dose was in carcass water-soluble compounds, extractable with ethyl ether. Livers of fat-deficient rats and those fed the supplement had lower C¹⁴ content and concentration than controls, but in heart and gonads the ooncentration of C¹⁴ was similar in the 3 groups. The major portion of the radioactivity in liver was observed in microsomes and in mitochondria and as phospholipid. Most of the radioactivity was associated with a material which had a retention time (gas-liquid chromatography) similar to that of arachidonic acid. However, in heart and gonads of fat-deficient animals, a decreased proportion of activity was in arachidonic acid and increased amounts in shorter chain acids. C¹⁴ was also observed to be associated with materials of retention times greater than that of arachidonic acid, particularly those similar to docosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids.

Manuscript received 19 June 1964.