[Effects of docosahexaenoic acid on rat adipocytes proliferation and differentiation]

To investigate effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on proliferation and differentiation of rat adipocytes and to elucidate its potential mechanism, rat's primary preadipocytes in vitro were cultured. Treated adipocytes with 0 micromol/L (control group), 40 micromol/L (lower dose group) and 160 micromol/L (higher dose group) DHA. Cell living rations and proliferation were analyzed by trypan blue exclusion and MTT assay. The degree of adipogenesis and differentiation were measured by Oil Red O staining extraction assay and the expression of peroxisome proliferation activated receptor-gamma2 (PPARgamma2) mRNA were detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). It was demonstrated that cells living ration and the optical density (OD) of MTT were all decreased, especially treated by 160 micromol/L DHA at 60 (72 hours (P < 0.05). The OD of Oil Red O staining and the expression of PPARgamma2 mRNA were all decreased after treated by 160 micromol/L DHA (P < 0.01). It can be concluded that DHA can inhibite proliferation and differentiation of adipocytes in some degree. Higher dose of DHA can markedly decrease adipogenesis and prevent differentiation of adipocytes, which may be in part associated with its effect on decreasing the expression of PPARgamma2 mRNA.