DIETARY-LIPID MODIFICATION OF MYOCARDIAL EICOSANOIDS FOLLOWING ISCHEMIA AND REPERFUSION IN THE RAT

Several different edible oils were compared for their ability to modify eicosanoid biosynthesis following experimentally-induced myocardial ischemia and reperfusion in the rat. Two types of palm oil [neutralized, bleached, and deodorized (NBDPO) and refined, bleached, and deodorized (RBDPO)] and partially hydrogenated soybean oil (SBO) were tested against a diet supplemented with sunflower seed oil (SSO) rich in n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Fish oil (FO) rich in n-3 PUFA, with its known cardioprotective actions, served as an internal reference point for the study. Test oils were fed as a 12% (w/w) supplement for nine months before the induction of myocardial ischemia and reperfusion. Palm oil diets exerted effects indistinguishable from the SBO group against cardiac arrhythmia, which occurred following alterations to coronary blood flow. Arrhythmic potentials, as expressed by a hierarchical scale (0-9) of arrhythmia score, were: SSO, 1.5 +/- 0.5; FO, 0.9 +/- 0.4; SBO, 3.1 +/- 0.5*; NBDPO, 3.2 +/- 0.5*; RBDPO, 3.3 +/- 0.6*; *P < 0.05 vs. SSO. Following ischemia and reperfusion, both SSO and RBDPO groups tended to show an increase in myocardial prostacyclin, with the effect being more prominent in the RBDPO group (SSO, 10%; RBDPO, 25%). Thromboxane production was reduced in the FO group. Interestingly, cardiac muscle from both FO and palm oil groups displayed a reduced capacity to produce 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid SSO, 591.9 +/- 95.8; SBO, 375.5 +/- 48.9; NBDPO, 287.2 +/- 64.7*; RBDPO, 230.9 +/- 80.2**; FO, 203.7 +/- 81.4** (ng/g dry wt, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01). No clear relationship was seen between the availability of 20:4n-6 in myocardial phospholipids and eicosanoid profile. Data suggests that fatty acid composition of edible oils is not the only determinant of arrhythmic vulnerability and eicosanoid production.