CHANGES IN BLOOD-COAGULATION, PLATELET-AGGREGATION, AND LIPID-METABOLISM IN RATS GIVEN LIPIDS CONTAINING DOCOSAHEXAENOIC ACID

In order to identify an adequate intake level of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), changes in various parameters related to health benefits were s tudied in rats fed on diets containing 10% test lipids at different n- 3(DHA)/n-6 ratios for two weeks. An evaluation of the critical level o f the dietary n-3/n-6 ratio which had a significant effect on the para meters of several tissues indicated that the response to the dietary r atios differed according to the parameter, the variation in ratio rang ing approximately from 0.20 to 1.77 with either a positive or negative effect on the health benefit. These results suggest that a suitable i ntake level of DHA would be within this range. In view of safety, howe ver, the critical level for the dietary n-3/n-5 ratio map be around 0. 56, as shown by a detailed analysis on the lower limit level of the ha rmful parameters. We thus propose that the dietary intake of DHA shoul d mot be more than 0.56 in terms of the n-3/n-6 ratio.