Abstract
Summary
Two groups of young, male, weanling rats were fed purified diets, one containing 7% corn oil (control) and the other 0% fat (EFA-deficient). After sixteen weeks of feeding, rats were killed, their extraorbital lacrimal glands were extracted for lipids, and the lipid composition was studied. Total phospholipid concentration was higher whereas total cholesterol, free cholesterol and cholesterol to phospholipid ratios were the same in lacrimal glands of EFA-deficient rats as compared to the controls. Total fatty acid concentrations were the same in the two groups. However, free fatty acid levels were reduced in the EFA-deficient gland. The fatty acid composition of total lipids, free fatty acids, triglycerides, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylserine + phosphatidylinositol fractions obtained from the lacrimal glands of EFA-deficient rats showed changes in their fatty acid patterns which are characteristic of EFA deficiency, i.e., an increase in 16:1 and 18:1, a decrease in 18:2 and 20:4 and an accumulation of 20:3 ω9 fatty acids.
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