EFFECTS OF DIETARY FISH OIL ON SURVIVAL AND RENAL FATTY-ACID COMPOSITION IN MURINE POLYCYSTIC KIDNEY-DISEASE

It has been demonstrated that replacing dietary n-6 with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is beneficial in some animal models of renal disease, but not in others. We fed semi-purified diets containing either sunflowerseed oil (containing linoleic acid, 18:2n-6) or fish oil (containing eicosapentaenoic acid, 20:5n-3, plus docosahexaenoic acid, 22:6n-3) to a mouse model of polycystic kidney disease (DBA/2FG-pcy). Renal phospholipid and triglyceride fatty acid compositions were markedly altered by dietary treatment: 20:5n-3 and 22:6n-3 levels were elevated in the kidneys from mice fed fish oil at the expense of 18:2n-6 and arachidonic acid, 20:4n-6. Despite these lipid alterations, however, survival and proteinuria were not improved by long term fish oil consumption in mice with polycystic kidney disease.