A PUFA-rich diet increases endogenous genotoxic stress and mitochondrial DNA damage in mice

Substitution of dietary saturated fat with seed oils highly enriched in n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) has been advocated as healthy strategy to offset elevated cholesterol levels. However, both n-6 as well as n-3 PUFAs, considered essential because vertebrates lack the enzymatic apparatus for their de novo synthesis, are the main source of endogenous DNA damage during the aging process due to their high oxidizability. The membrane pacemaker theory of aging is an extension to the oxidative theory of aging and postulates that higher PUFA content in membrane lipids determines the lifespan of different species.

We have examined whether a saturated fat-rich diet lacking the essential fatty acids versus a PUFA-rich diet differentially affects lipid profiles and membrane fatty-acid composition, as well as markers of oxidative protein and DNA damage and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) integrity in vivo.

Three-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were fed isocaloric, high-fat diets containing either coconut oil (SFA-rich) or soybean oil (PUFA-rich) for 12 weeks. Plasma and liver lipids were measured, and the fatty acid composition was analyzed in liver and erythrocyte membranes. Endogenous DNA damage was assessed using 1,N⁶-etheno-2'-deoxyadenosine (εdA) detection in blood and liver. mtDNA damage and lipid peroxidation derived protein adducts from liver were also examined.

Mice were maintained on a SFA-rich diet for 12 weeks without exhibiting any symptoms of essential fatty acid deficiency (EFAD) as described in historical literature despite the massive synthesis of compensatory n-9 PUFAs. Furthermore, EFAD mice showed reduced levels of endogenous εdA and mtDNA damage as well as protein adducts originating from the primary n-6 PUFA lipid peroxidation product, 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal. However, some other lipid peroxidation-derived protein adducts, such as malondialdehyde and, surprisingly, 4-hydroxy-2-hexenal, were elevated on a SFA-rich diet.

A PUFA-rich diet, relative to the SFA-rich diet, is associated with increased lipid-peroxidation linked adducts and a greater degree of mtDNA damage in vivo, in parallel with membrane enrichment in n-6 PUFA. These findings provide clear evidence of the biological effects of a PUFA-rich diet on endogenous genotoxic stress.