Effect of increased levels of dietary α-linolenic acid on the n-3 PUFA bioavailability and oxidative stress in rat

We investigated the impact of increased alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) dietary levels on its plasma bioavailability and its bioconversion in n-3 long chain poly unsaturated fatty acids during a 60-d kinetics and the oxidative stress potentially associated. Rats were submitted to a normolipidic diet providing 0, 3, 10 and 24% ALA of dietary lipids for 0, 15, 30 and 60 days. The lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress (nitric oxide (NO) contents and catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), gluthation peroxidase (GPx) activities) were studied in the liver and plasma. When the diet was deprived in n-3 PUFAs, ALA, (eicosanoic acid) EPA and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels decreased in all lipid fractions of plasma and in red blood cell (RBC) lipids. The addition of ALA in the diet linearly improves its bioavailability and its bioconversion in EPA (R²=0.98). By providing 10 to 24% ALA in dietary lipids (LA/ALA, 1·6 and 5·5 respectively), ALA and EPA were more broadly packaged in all lipid fractions (triglyceride (TAG), cholesterol ester (CE) and free fatty acids (FFA)) of plasma from 15 to 30 days timeframe. Only 3% ALA was sufficient to promote the maximal bioconversion of ALA in DHA in phospholipid (PL) and TAG fractions. Additionally, the improvement of ALA bioconversion in EPA and DHA did not impact the oxidative stress markers and limiting lipid peroxidation. To conclude, this study demonstrated that in rat, 10% ALA in the lipid diet for 15-30 days promotes its bioavailability and its bioconversion and allowed the greatest levels in plasma and RBCs.