THE DEPOSITION OF LINOLEIC ACID IN RATS FED CORN OIL

Abstract

Rats were fed different levels (0–30%) of corn oil in a purified basal diet, and the proportion of linoleic acid in the total fatty acids of carcass and liver lipids measured by gas–liquid chromatography. At 9 weeks, the proportion of linoleic acid in the carcass fatty acids of rats receiving no fat was 2%, whereas in those receiving 20% corn oil the proportion was 46%; this level was not exceeded when 30% corn oil was fed for the same time. In rats fed 2 or 20% corn oil for intervals up to 24 days, the proportion of linoleic acid in the liver fatty acids reached a maximum more quickly than did that in the carcass. The concentration of linoleic acid in chromatographically separated liver neutral lipid, phosphatidyl choline, and phosphatidyl ethanolamine was influenced to different degrees by the dietary level of that acid. The greatest increase in linoleic acid occurred within 3 days in the liver neutral lipids of rats supplied with the higher level of linoleate; smaller increases occurred in the phosphatidyl choline within 3 days and in phosphatidyl ethanolamine within 6 days. With increasing levels of corn oil in the diet, the concentration of linoleic acid in the liver neutral lipids approached that of the dietary oil.