The fatty acid composition of marmoset monkey perirenal fat was examined after long-term feeding of different lipid supplemented diets. Saturated fatty acid supplementation significantly reduced linoleic acid; n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) supplementation decreased oleic acid but did not reduce the saturated fatty acid content of perirenal fat. Dietary supplementation with fish oil also reduced the level of linoleic acid but increased the level of palmitic acid as well as that of the long-chain n-3 PUFAs. Perirenal fat levels of linoleic acid and docosahexaenoic acid are reliable measures of n-6 and n-3 PUFA intake respectively, but the levels of saturated fatty acids palmitic and stearic do not accurately reflect the marmosets dietary intake.

Adipose Tissue↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Influence of dietary fats on blood coagulation and prostaglandin production in the common marmoset.

Common marmosets were fed a standard marmoset diet (REF) or diets supplemented with 12% (wt/wt) sunflower seed oil (SSO) or sheep fat (SF) for a period of 90 weeks. The values for coagulation indices, clotting time, and Russel viper venom time were consistent with decreased thrombotic tendency of platelets from animals on the SSO diet relative to the low fat, REF diet animals, while an increased tendency to thrombosis was observed with SF-fed marmosets. The SSO- and SF-supplemented marmosets showed a significantly reduced thromboxane (TXB2) generation from platelets aggregating to collagen (ASC) relative to the REF group, while at 50 micrograms/ml ASC this difference was maintained only by the SSO group. The SF diet-fed marmosets showed a reduced prostacyclin (measured as 6-keto-PGF1 alpha) generation from incubated aorta relative to the REF or SSO-fed groups, which were not different from each other. A reduced proportion of platelet phospholipid arachidonic acid (20:4, n-6) and increased alpha-tocopherol concentration was consistent with the decreased aggregability and thromboxane generation of platelets from SSO-fed marmosets relative to the REF and SF groups. The SF diet-fed marmosets, on the other hand, showed minimal change in arachidonic acid, alpha-tocopherol or platelet reactivity from the REF group. These differing responses to dietary fats are discussed in relation to the potential for the development of thrombosis and atherosclerosis.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Dietary fats and cardiac arrhythmia in primates.

Several epidemiological surveys have suggested that an alteration in the habitual intake of the type rather than the amount of dietary fat may offer a nutritional means for a reduction in mortality from severe cardiac arrhythmia which cannot be achieved at present by the post hoc administration of anti-arrhythmic agents. We have examined this possibility in a series of long-term feeding studies with the small non-human primate marmoset monkey Callithrix jacchus. In both in vitro and in vivo studies of the mechanical performance of cardiac muscle we have found that diets rich in saturated fatty acids promote arrhythmia when the heart is subjected to pharmacological or ischemic stress. Conversely, diets enriched in either omega-6 or omega-3 PUFA are beneficial, reducing the vulnerability to pharmacologically induced dysrhythmia in vitro or ischemic arrhythmia in vivo. In addition, PUFA enriched diets enhance myocardial performance (left ventricular ejection fraction and end diastolic volume) and raise the electrical threshold at which ventricular fibrillation can be induced. These diet-induced changes in cardiac performance are accompanied by significant alterations in the PUFA composition of cardiac muscle membranes, and the subsequent production of myocardial eicosanoids. Both omega-6 and omega-3 PUFA increase the ratio of myocardial prostacyclin:thromboxane, but omega-3 PUFA is more effective as less is required to achieve a significant decrease in pro-arrhythmic thromboxane.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗