[Protective effect of alpha-linolenic acid in encephalomalacia in chickens]

Encephalomacia is a vitamin E deficiency syndrome which affects the cerebellum of young chicks. The lesion includes degenerative alterations of cellular and fibrillar elements, apparently as the result of the ischaemia caused by thrombotic events in the microvascular system. A supply of linoleic acid, as fatty acid methyl esters prepared from safflower oil (Carthamus tinctorius), caused a high incidence of encephalomalacia. On the other hand, linseed oil esters, rich in alpha-linolenic acid, did not induce any symptoms and protected the chicks to a large extend against the development of signs produced by linoleic acid. Fatty acid esters of cod liver oil, rich in long-chain derivatives of alpha-linolenic acid, exerted a relatively weak protective effect. The analytical results show that a supply of alpha-linolenic acid led to an accumulation of eicosapentaenoic acid, 20:5 omega 3, and a reduced concentration of arachidonic acid in the phospholipds of liver and plasma. The results suggest that, under the conditions leading to encephalomalacia, the prostacyclin-thromboxane balance is shifted in direction of an excessive production of TXA2, causing thrombus formation in the capillaries of the cerebellum, alpha-linolenic acid, by modifying the PUFA profile, exerts a multiple action the main result of which appears to be an antithrombotic effect at the level of the microvascular system of the cerebellum.