The influence of dietary beef tallow (BT) versus sunflower oil (SO) on meat quality and apparent digestibility and deposition of individual fatty acids in the whole carcass was investigated in pigs fed diets containing either BT or SO. The diets contained equal amounts of energy in the form of the variable fats and were fed on an iso-energetic, restricted basis. Crude fat in the SO diet was bet...

The present study investigated the effect of dietary Zn deficiency during sexual maturation on sperm integrity and testis phospholipid fatty acid composition. Male weanling Sprague-Dawley rats were randomised into four dietary groups for 3 weeks: Zn control (ZC; 30 mg Zn/kg); Zn marginally deficient (ZMD; 9 mg Zn/kg); Zn deficient (ZD; < 1 mg Zn/kg); pair fed (PF; 30 mg Zn/kg) to the ZD group. ...

Dietary lipid composition profoundly influences the hibernation pattern of the chipmunk Eutamias amoenus. The object of the present study was to investigate whether these physiological changes following feeding of saturated and unsaturated lipids were associated by compositional changes of fatty acids of tissues and membranes. Animals were fed with rodent chow (control diet), rodent chow with 1...

The present study quantifies the relationships between diet fatty acid profile and fatty acid composition of rat skeletal muscle phospholipids. Young adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed, for 8 weeks, on one of twelve moderate-fat diets (25 % of total energy) differing only in fatty acid profile. SFA content ranged from 8-88 % of total fatty acids, MUFA 6-65 %, total PUFA 4-81 %, n-6 PUFA 3-...

Sesamin is known as a specific inhibitor of delta 5-desaturation, the conversion from dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (20:3(n=6)) to arachidonic acid (20:4(n-6)). In the previous paper, we reported that sesamin inhibited delta 5-desaturation of n-6 fatty acids in rat hepatocytes but not that of n-3 fatty acids, from 20:4(n-3) to 20:5(n-3). Then, we studied the effects of sesamin on delta 5-desatura...

Effects of sesamin and sesamolin (sesame lignans) on hepatic fatty acid metabolism were compared in rats. Rats were fed either a lignan-free diet, a diet containing 0.6 or 2 g/kg lignan (sesamin or sesamolin), or a diet containing both sesamin (1.4 g/kg) and sesamolin (0.6 g/kg) for 10 d. Sesamin and sesamolin dose-dependently increased the activity and mRNA abundance of various enzymes involve...

Two groups of patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), with dietary advice randomized between a low-carbohydrate (LC) diet and a modified-fat (MF) diet, were followed to determine the effect of diet on phospholipid fatty acid composition of platelets and on development of retinopathy in the 7 years following diagnosis. There was a tendency for retinopathy to occur more fre...

OBJECTIVES To discuss present knowledge about Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular diseases. DESIGN Review of existing literature. SETTING AND RESULTS Epidemiological studies as well as randomised dietary trials suggest that Mediterranean diet may be important in relation to the pathogenesis (and prevention) of CHD. For instance, a striking protective effect of an ALA-rich Mediterranean di...

Pathological cardiac hypertrophy leads to derangements in lipid metabolism that may contribute to the development of cardiac dysfunction. Since previous studies, using high saturated fat diets, have yielded inconclusive results, we investigated whether provision of a high-unsaturated fatty acid (HUFA) diet was sufficient to restore impaired lipid metabolism and normalize diastolic dysfunction i...

The anecdote &quot;we are what we eat&quot; in line with the doctrine of Hypocrates in 400 BC &ldquo;Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food&rdquo; are vividly portray the importance of daily regimen in human health and body well-functioning. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests the relative intake of specific nutrients can have a profound effect on physiology of individuals...