Membrane fluidity and fatty acid metabolism in kidney cells from rats fed purified eicosapentaenoic acid or purified docosahexaenoic acid

Hagve T-A, Woldseth B, Brox J, Narce M, Poisson J-P. Membrane £uidity and fatty acid metabolism in kidney cells from rats fed puri¢ed eicosapentaenoic acid or puri¢ed docosahexaenoic acid. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 1998; 58: 187^194. Rats were given a supplement (1.5 ml/day) of purified eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5,n-3), purified docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6,n-3)), or corn oil for 10 days. Membrane fluidity, measured as the steady-state fluorescence polarization of diphenylhexatriene (DPH), was approximately 20% lower in kidney cells from rats fed purified EPA than in cells from the DHA-fed or corn-oil fed animals. The level of 20:5(n-3) in kidney phospholipids was 18 times higher in r…