Effect of erucic acid on the phospholipid molecular species compositions of the rat heart and liver

Abstract

Erucic acid was not incorporated into phosphatidylcholine or phosphatidylethanolamine, but was into diphosphatidylglycerol and sphingomyelin in both the heart and liver of male Wistar rats fed erucic acid for 20 days. A remarkable difference between the heart and liver was found in the molecular species composition of phosphatidylcholine. The 1-stearoyl//2-arachidonoyl species of phosphatidylcholine in the heart was maintained at a higher level in rats fed the erucic acid diet than in rats fed a low fat diet. There was no difference in this molecular species content of cardiac and hepatic phosphatidylethanolamine between rats fed erucic acid and low fat diets. The level of erucic acid incorporated into triacylglycerols and free fatty acids in heart was higher than in the liver.