[The effect of dietary Omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acids on the activity of enzymes associated with liver mitochondrial and placental function in rats].

Female virgin rats, Wistar strain, divided into three groups of 18 each, were fed either a diet containing 45% of calories as fat (45 g%), the second received low-fat diet (15 g%), before and throughout pregnancy, and the third served as control. For both dietary fat levels, the polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acid (P/S) ratio was adjusted by substitution of saturated fatty acids for corn oil, to provide P/S of 2.0. The control group was fed a diet containing 30% of calories, as fat, with a P/S ratio of 1.0. Rats were sacrificed by decapitation 20 days after mating: fetuses, placenta and liver were then removed and weighed. Liver and placenta mitochondria were isolated. Phospholipids were extracted from mitochondrial membranes, and fatty acid tail composition was determined. Cytochrome c oxidase (a3) and rotenone-insensitive-NADH cytochrome c reductase (NADH cyt c red) in mitochondria subfractions were also assayed. The high-fat diet (45 g%) resulted in an increase in both liver and placental a3, but NADHcyt-c-red, activity did not change. The low fat diet (15 g%) reduced the activity of insensitive rotenone-NADH cytochrome c reductase. The fetal weight of the mothers fed the high-fat diet was higher (p less than 0.001) than in the other groups. No difference in fetal weight was observed between the pregnant groups fed 30% or 15% of calories (fat diets). These results suggest that changes in the fatty acid mitochondrial phospholipids which reflects the composition of dietary fat can result in changes in lipid-dependent function of integral membrane-bound enzymes. Therefore, it can be postulated that the increase of membrane fatty acid Omega 6 enhanced the a3 enzyme activity, which correlated with an increase in fetal growth.