The Effect of Dietary Manipulation on the Content and Positional Distribution of Fatty Acids including Conjugated Linoleic Acid in the Tissues of Sheep

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is produced in the rumen by isomerization of linoleic acid and has been shown to be anticarcinogenic. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of feeding dietary CLA to pre-ruminant lambs or linoleic acid-rich safflower oil to weaned ruminating lambs. Fat content, CLA content and fatty acid (FA) composition of diaphragm, leg, rib, subcutaneous (SC) adipose and liver tissues were determined. The triacylglycerol (TAG) fractions of the total lipid (TL) from the diaphragm, rib and SC adipose tissues were analyzed for FA composition and FA positional distribution. The phospholipid (PL) fractions of the TL were analyzed for FA composition. The positional distribution of FAs of liver PL was determined. Tissue fat content was affected by diet only in SC adipose tissue. Dietary supplementation with safflower oil increased the fat content of the subcutaneous adipose tissue whereas CLA supplementation resulted in decreased (P<0.05) fat content. Dietary supplementation with safflower oil increased (P<0.05) the CLA content of tissues by more than 200% whereas dietary supplementation with CLA did not affect CLA content. Positional distribution analysis indicated that CLA tends was localized to the sn-1/3 positions of TAG and the sn-2 position of the liver PL.