Reduced tissue arachidonic acid concentration with chronic ethanol feeding in miniature pigs

The effect of ethanol feeding on the essential fatty acid content of tissues has been contradictory. To define the effect, we analyzed fatty acid profiles in various tissues from five miniature pigs fed daily 105 kJ basal diet/kg body wt and 146 kJ ethanol/kg body wt, and also five control pigs pair-fed the same amount of basal diet but with corn starch substituted for ethanol. After 12 mo, biopsy samples were taken, and tissue fatty acid profiles were analyzed. In the phospholipid fraction from the ethanol group there was a uniform decrease in arachidonic acid (AA) and an increase in oleic acid in liver, serum, and muscle. AA was consistently decreased in the triglyceride fractions of liver, serum and subcutaneous adipose of the ethanol group. Possible explanations for this general reduction in tissue AA with ethanol feeding include decreased activities of delta 6 and delta 5 desaturases, and a displacement of AA from lipid fractions by other fatty acids.