American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 27, 945-951, Copyright © 1974 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Relationship between fatty acid composition of erythrocytes and susceptibility to vitamin E deficiency

¹ From the Department of Biochemical Nutrition, Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc. Nutley, New Jersey 07110

Although erythrocytes from vitamin E-depleted rats are highly susceptible to dialuric acid peroxidative hemolysis, those from rabbits were not, nor did the rabbits become dystrophic when they were maintained on stripped lard diets. Rabbit RBC became susceptible (and dystrophy appeared) following supplementation with arachidonate, the latter being preferentially destroyed in the RBC membranes during the peroxidizing process. Similar but less severe physiological findings were made following cod liver oil or safflower oil feeding. Fragiligrams of RBC from the arachidonate-fed rabbits were biphasic, suggesting two populations of RBC, one old and one young. Reticulocytes were present, although hematocrit levels were normal. Therefore, the feeding of PUFA to clinically normal, vitamin E-depleted rabbits acutely initiated the onset of RBC hemolysis and muscular dystrophy.