Native Chukot Peninsula residents, in contrast to Muscovites, consume a diet rich in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. This dietary peculiarity is reflected in differences in plasma lipid and apolipoprotein contents. The Chukot residents have lower contents of total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol and apolipoprotein B, but higher HDL (high density lipoprotein) cholesterol levels than do Muscovites. The apolipoprotein A-I levels were identical in both groups. A higher HDL cholesterol to apolipoprotein A-I ratio was determined in the coastline Chukot residents (0.52 +/- 0.01) than in Muscovites (0.43 +/- 0.01; p less than 0.01). In contrast to Muscovites, the coastline Chukot residents also had higher n-3 and lower n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid percentages in plasma and erythrocyte lipids, and lower phosphatidylcholine and higher sphingomyelin or phosphatidylethanolamine levels in HDL2b and HDL3. The higher HDL cholesterol levels in the plasma of the coastline Chukot residents appears to reflect the higher cholesterol-scavenging capacity of their HDL. We conclude from this study that the regular consumption of dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids by the coastline Chukot residents decreased LDL cholesterol transfer from plasma to peripheral cells, and enhanced cholesterol efflux from cellular membranes toward HDL.
It is shown that enriching the rat diet with selenium and vitamin E augments the generation of spleen antibody-producing cells and the T-cell blast-transformation response to mitogen. The addition of selenium alone fails to affect the immune reaction; however, the addition of vitamin E alone boosts the T-cell response to mitogen. Dietary supplementation with selenium and/or vitamin E has no marked effect on the function of peritoneal macrophages or on lipid peroxidation.
Examination of the fatty-acid composition of lipids contained in the liver, spleen, blood plasma, aggregated lymphatic follicles of the small intestine, and mesenteric lymph nodes of rats fed diets supplemented with selenium revealed an appreciable effect of this element on the efficiency with which linoleic acid was metabolized to arachidonic acid, which was reflected in an increased 20:4/18:2 ratio. In contrast, Se was found to have little or no effect on levels of lipid peroxidation products in tissues and blood serum.
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