The Impact of Short-Term Shark Liver Oil Supplementation on the Fatty Acid Composition of Erythrocyte Membranes.
Fatty acid (FA) balance is strictly related to human health. The composition of fatty acids in lipid membranes seems to be influenced by diet. Shark liver oil (SLO) supplementation has been widely used recently in the prevention and treatment of human diseases. We analyzed the impact of short-term SLO supplementation on certain biochemical parameters and erythrocyte FA composition in a group of young healthy women. Our results showed that 6 weeks of SLO supplementation led to a significant decrease in C-reactive protein levels in sera and intracellular cholesterol levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. SLO supplementation caused a significant increase in the content of the polyunsaturated omega-3 FAs: docosahexaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid and α-linolenic acid. In the group of omega-6 FAs, we observed a significant elevation of arachidonic and dihomo-gamma-linoleic acid content. Due to these alterations, the omega-3 index increased significantly from 3.6% (before) to 4.2% (after supplementation). We also observed the impact of SLO supplementation on the membrane fluidity index. The ratio between saturated and unsaturated FAs decreased significantly from 13.1 to 9.9. In conclusion, our results show that even short-term SLO supplementation can improve human erythrocyte fatty acid composition and other parameters that may have health-promoting consequences.
['Zakrzewska|Katarzyna|K|', 'Oszajca|Katarzyna|K|0000-0002-7070-8720', 'Zep|Wojciech|W|', 'Piekarska|Anna|A|', 'Sidorkiewicz|Malgorzata|M|0000-0001-6620-4450']
D000328:Adult D000818:Animals D008078:Cholesterol, LDL D019587:Dietary Supplements D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane D005227:Fatty Acids D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 D005395:Fish Oils D006801:Humans D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear D008099:Liver D008560:Membrane Fluidity D012754:Sharks D055815:Young Adult
shark liver oil C-reactive protein cholesterol omega-3 erythrocyte fatty acids DHA HDL-C LDL-C PUFAs