American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 33, 1814-1817, Copyright © 1980 by The American Society for Nutrition

Marine docosenoic acid isomer distribution in the plasma of Greenland Eskimos

¹ From Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Resource Branch, P.O. Box 550, Halifax, N.S. B3J 2S7, Canada

The natural docosenoic acid in the human diet can be predominantly 22:19 if of plant (generally rapeseed oil) origin, or predominantly 22:111 if of marine origin. The fatty acids of dietary fats (meals) and plasma lipids of some Greenland eskimos were examined by open-tubular gas-liquid chromatography. The dietary docosenoic acid isomer distribution pattern showed 22:ll1 to be about 5 times 22:l9, a ratio typical of marine mammal fats. A similar ratio was also found in the plasma fatty acids, but with a slightly higher proportion of 22:19. When correlated with the excellent cardiòvascular health of Greenland eskimos, the docosenoic acid data suggest that current concern as to the impact of dietary docosenoic acids on the human myocardium, largely based on animal feeding studies, may be exaggerated.