부산대학교 도서관

It is currently accepted that a dietary enrichment with fish or fish-derived lipids is associated with a reduced incidence or amelioration of several pathological conditions, particularly in the cardiovascular area, due to the modification of risk factors through mechanisms related to lipid metabolism and profile. Among the changes of plasma and cells lipid profile responsible for this prevention is the increase of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA-20:5ω3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA-22:6ω3) levels in cell membrane phospholipids. Provided that haemodialysis patients present a high risk of cardiovascular disease, they constitute a group where the evaluation of the putative beneficial effects of dietary supplementation with ω3 fatty acids supplementation is of interest. A group of 23 haemodialysis patients and a control group of 10 healthy volunteers were submitted to a diet supplemented with Portuguese canned sardine (4.3 g of ω3 fatty acids; 2.1 g EPA and 1.33 g DHA) three times per week during 3 months. The fatty acid profile of erythrocyte phospholids was evaluated at the start and at the end of supplementation period. Before supplementation EPA content was lower in haemodialysis patients (0.56%) than in controls (1.33%) and increased significantly in both groups, respectively, to 1.5% and 2.5%, after the 3-month dietary supplementation. The percentages of DHA and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA-22:50)3) were similar before supplementation in patients and in controls (1.76 and 1.96%, respectively) hut after supplementation only an increase of DPA in the control group (2.67%) was observed. Nevertheless, after supplementation, DPA/EPA and DHA/DPA ratios, used to evaluate the activity of desaturases and elongases enzymes, were similar in both groups suggesting the presence of an active system of these enzymes in both controls and haemodialysis patients. These results could be explained by a permanent deficiency in absorption/incorporation of EPA in haemodialysis patients which can be the cause of the initial low EPA levels in spite of identical regular fish consumption in both groups and further supported by the finding of an only partial correction after supplementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]