The effect of dietary fat on the composition of lung fatty acids was s
tudied in Fischer rats fed two experimental semisynthetic, isocaloric
diets containing different qualities of fat (low fat diet (LFD) and me
dium-chain triacylglycerols diet (MCTD)). The effect of MCTs preparati
on on the lung phospho- and neutral lipids is manifested as a change i
n the degree of saturation expressed as a ratio of saturation index (R
S(i)) MCTD vs. CD. The saturation increased; in neutral lipids by 70%,
in phosphatidylcholine fraction by 152.6%, and in other phospholipids
by 39.5%. The results on the fatty acid composition of lipids obtaine
d using LFD showed the effect of desaturation expressed as a-ratio of
desaturation index (RD(i)), in phosphatidylcholine fraction -1.95. The
observed effect of desaturation was a consequence of the administered
LFD, which contains a lower amount of essential fatty acids, which st
rongly affects the conversion of palmitic acid into palmitooleic acid.
The LFD can be useful as a carbohydrate diet in a special clinical si
tuation only if enriched with a certain amount of essential fatty acid
s, especially linoleic acid.