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Fatty acid composition of skeletal muscle reflects dietary fat composition in humans^1,2,3

¹ From the Unit for Clinical Nutrition Research, Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences/Geriatrics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.

Background: It is still unknown whether the fatty acid composition of human skeletal muscle lipids is directly influenced by the fat composition of the diet.

Objective: We investigated whether the fatty acid composition of the diet is reflected in the fatty acid profile of skeletal muscle phospholipids and triacylglycerols.

Design: Thirty-two healthy adults (25 men and 7 women) included in a larger controlled, multicenter dietary study were randomly assigned to diets containing a high proportion of either saturated fatty acids (SFAs) [total fat, 36% of energy; SFAs, 18% of energy; monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), 10% of energy] or MUFAs (total fat, 35% of energy; SFAs, 9% of energy; MUFAs, 19% of energy) for 3 mo. Within each diet group, there was a second random assignment to supplementation with fish oil capsules [containing 3.6 g n-3 fatty acids/d; 2.4 g eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3)] or placebo. A muscle biopsy sample was taken from the vastus lateralis muscle after the diet period. Parallel analyses of diet and supplementation effects were performed.

Results: The proportions of myristic (14:0), pentadecanoic (15:0), heptadecanoic (17:0), and palmitoleic (16:1n-7) acids in the skeletal muscle phospholipids were higher and the proportion of oleic acid (18:1n-9) was lower in the SFA group than in the MUFA group. The proportion of total n-3 fatty acids in the muscle phospholipids was 2.5 times higher, with a 5 times higher proportion of eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3), in subjects supplemented with n-3 fatty acids than in those given placebo. Similar differences were observed in the skeletal muscle triacylglycerols.

Conclusion: The fatty acid composition of skeletal muscle lipids reflects the fatty acid composition of the diet in healthy men and women.

Key Words: n-3 Fatty acids • monounsaturated fatty acids • saturated fatty acids • skeletal muscle phospholipids • skeletal muscle triacylglycerols • diet • adults • fish oil

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