Tissue Lipid Fatty Acid Composition in Pyridoxine-Deficient Rats

Abstract

The influence of pyridoxine deficiency on the fatty acid composition (gas-liquid chromatography) of the cholesterol ester, triglyceride and phospholipid fractions of serum, liver and adrenal have been determined. Comparison of the tissue lipid fractions of both normal and pyridoxine-deficient rats indicated that only the triglyceride fraction of the serum and liver and the phospholipid fraction of the liver showed declines in the level of arachidonic acid and increases in linoleic acid. The cholesterol ester fatty acids of those tissues showed no significant change as a result of pyridoxine deficiency. Pyridoxine deficiency had no effect on the serum lipid levels, but there was a significant decline in the liver free cholesterol and a large decline in the liver phospholipid fraction (50%). Adrenal corticoid hormone synthesis was not impaired in the pyridoxine-deficient animal, nor was there any change in the level of the adrenal polyunsaturated fatty acids. The relationship of these findings to the role of pyridoxine in the biosynthesis of arachidonic acid and in the maintenance of tissue lipid and lipid fatty acids is discussed.