In the first experiment weanling mice were fed on diets supplemented with ethyl linoleate (12mg/day) or with ethyl linoleate (12mg/day) plus ethyl linoelaidate (50mg/day) for a week, then maintained on a fat-free diet for 17 days. In the second experiment weanling mice were fed on ordinary solid diet for a week, then one group of them was fed on fat-free diet, and the other group was fed with supplement of ethyl linoelaidate (25mg/day) for 2 weeks. Moreover the mice were maintained on a fat-free diet for subsequent 2 weeks.
The animals were killed by exanguination each week. The fatty acids composition of phospholipids in liver and heart was determined by thin-layer- and gas-chromatography.
The influences of supplementation of linoelaidate on the levels of unsaturated fatty acids in tissue phospholipids were an increase in the linoleic acid in liver and heart, and a decrease in the arachidonic acid in heart. The eicosatrienoic acid levels in the phospholipids of heart and liver were depressed during the period fed on linoelaidate and increased after the period. It was concluded that the linoelaidate in diet inhibited the conversion of linoleic acid to arachidonic acid and of oleic acid to eicosatrienoic acid.