Health effects and bioavailability of n−3 fatty acids

Abstract

Long-chain n−3 polyunsaturated fatty acids play crucial roles in various physiological processes in the human body. Among these, docosahexaenoic acid [DHA, 22:6(n−3)] is particularly essential for the proper development and function of the brain and retina throughout life. With advances in the synthesis and determination of enantiospecific structured TAGs, this study was able to determine if dietary TAGs possessing DHA either in sn-1, sn-2, or sn-3 position and two palmitic acid residues in the remaining sn-positions, [sn-22:6(n−3)-16:0-16:0, sn-16:0- 22:6(n−3)-16:0 or sn-16:0-16:0-22:6(n−3)] would lead to the difference in fatty acid(FA) content or composition of visceral fat in rats. In addition to these three intervention groups, there were three control groups - tripalmitin, n−3 deficiency and normal feed. The experimental part focused on the extraction of lipids, followed by the analysis of FA methyl esters using gas chromatography. DHA showed a higher absorption on the position sn-3 of TAGs in visceral fat when compared with the DHA located on position sn-1 and sn-2. Moreover, DHA located on position sn-3 of structured TAGs induced a higher content of FAs 20:1(n−9) and 20:4(n−6), and total (n−3) PUFAs in visceral fat TAGs compared with the position sn-1. This study showed the different bioavailability of DHA in different positions of TAGs.