Abstract
Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the dietary supplementation with ω-3 and ω-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids on the fatty acid composition of plasma and red blood cell membranes in rats with thioacetamide-induced liver cirrhosis. Methods: Thirty-eight female Wistar rats were given 300 mg thioacetamide/L in drinking water for 4 months to induce the experimental liver cirrhosis. Sixteen rats were used as controls. After treatment with thioacetamide, nine rats of each group were killed. Then, thioacetamide-treated rats were divided into three new groups, each receiving a different diet for 2 weeks: a semipurified diet (n = 9), the same diet supplemented with ω-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n = 10), or the same semipurified diet supplemented with ω-3 and ω-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids simultaneously (n = 10). The remaining control rats were fed the semipurified diet. Liver histology and plasma and erythrocyte fatty acid composition were assessed. Results: An apparent improvement of the histological damage took place in the rats fed the ω-3+ ω-6 -supplemented diet. The diet supplemented with polyunsaturated fatty acids of the ω-3 series induced increases in the ω-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid levels in total plasma lipids, plasma lipid fractions and in erythrocyte phospholipids, and decreases in ω-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in erythrocyte phospholipids during the recovery of rats with thioacetamide-induced liver cirrhosis. The administration of the diet supplemented with both ω-3 and ω-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids contributed to increase the levels of total plasma saturated, monounsaturated, and ω-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids from cirrhotic rats. Conclusion: We conclude that the simultaneous supply of long-chain fatty acids of the ω-3 and the ω-6 series can be beneficial to improve the fatty acid status of this experimental model of liver cirrhosis. (Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition 19:461-469, 1995)
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