The metabolic elongation products of both linoleic acid and linolenic acid were found in muscle tissues ofSynceru8 caffer and other ruminants. The acids with four double bonds were predominantly in the linoleic acid series, whereas the higher degrees of unsaturation, mainly five double bonds, were in the linolenic acid series. The total linoleic acid and linolenic acid groups were present in the relative proportions of about 4:1, in contrast with the fish oils, where the acids are mainly in the linolenic acid series. The consistent occurrence of members of both groups of acids in the animals studied here suggests to us that both may be important for structural purposes.
The fatty acid profiles of phosphatidyl ethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidyl choline (PC) of the red blood cells of 30 patients with mild inactive multiple sclerosis (MS) and 30 healthy controls were studied by gas chromatography. The groups were well matched for factors likely to influence tissue lipid levels, including diet. The MS patients showed a significant reduction in PE eicosapentaenoic acid (p = 0.009) especially in women, and an increase in both PE dihomo‐gamma‐linolenic acid (p = 0.004) and PC stearic acid (p = 0.04). No reduction in linoleic acid was observed in either the PC or PE fractions of the MS subjects. A similar study of the fatty acid profile in adipose tissue in 26 MS and 35 healthy controls found no detectable eicosapentaenoic acid in either group. However, whereas docosahexaenoic acid was not detectable in any MS patient, 40% of the controls had measurable levels varying from to 0.1 to 0.3% of total estimated fatty acid (p = 0.0003). No reduction in linoleic acid in MS subjects was observed. Supplementation with oral fish body oil demonstrated that n ‐ 3 fatty acids were incorporated into red blood cells over 5 weeks and this occurred equally in MS and controls. The effects of oral supplementation on adipose tissue were studied after 1 and 2 years. Whereas many fatty acids such as linoleic acid were raised at 1 year, but did not rise subsequently, eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid continued to rise through the 2‐year period. Long chain n ‐ 3 fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids may be important in the development of the central nervous system and may be relevant to the pathogenesis and treatment of MS.
In sheep, cats and rabbits undiluted thyroid lymph has been collected at some distance from the thyroid from individual lymphatic vessels which drain the gland. It has also been collected from lymphatics on the surface of the gland. In animals which had been injected previously with131I, the thyroid lymph has been found to contain a concentration of radioactivity considerably higher than that in either thyroid venous plasma or systemic blood plasma. This has been found to be the case in all three species of animal and both before and after giving thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). Almost all the radioactivity in the lymph was due to organic 131I. An appreciable part of the iodine compounds leaving the thyroid gland is carried away in the lymphatics.
1. An examination has been made of the plasma amino acids of adult Uganda Africans at risk to endomyocardial fibrosis compared with people from areas where the disorder is rare. The amino acid profile, both free and in the protein of the main staples, has also been examined.2. Plasma tryptophan was found to be low in adults at risk and intermediate in Africans receiving a higher protein intake, as compared with Europeans whose protein intake might include more than 40 % as animal products.3. Leucine and valine were also low in the plasma of adult Africans at risk.4. The non-essential amino acids alanine and glycine were increased in the adult Africans at risk.5. The similarity of these changes with the changes seen in kwashiorkor by other workers suggests that adherence to limited vegetable diets may introduce a chronic stress with regard to certain essential amino acids.6. Studies on the vegetable staples used by Africans established that they are particularly poor in tryptophan and such Africans are probably dependent on other sources for their trypto-phan. None of the staples was a rich source of leucine. Plantain contained relatively large amounts of histidine, and cassava of arginine.7. A comparative study of muscle protein suggests that the composition is similar regardless of diet and species. Leucine is quantitatively one of the most important amino acids in the muscle profile.8.The above findings are discussed in the context of the requirements for heart muscle and the high incidence of cardiomyopathies within such African communities.
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