K. Boswell et al., PRECLINICAL EVALUATION OF SINGLE-CELL OILS THAT ARE HIGHLY ENRICHED WITH ARACHIDONIC-ACID AND DOCOSAHEXAENOIC ACID, Food and chemical toxicology, 34(7), 1996, pp. 585-593
Arachidonic acid (ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are important in
human brain and retina development, and there is growing evidence sho
wing the importance of these fatty acids in infant nutrition. Triglyce
ride oils, highly enriched in ARA (ARASCO(R)) and DHA (DHASCO(R)), wer
e evaluated using very high dose acute (20 g/kg) and 4-wk subchronic g
avage feedings in weanling Sprague-Dawley rats. The combination of the
se oils, Formulaid(R), was also tested in the 4-wk subchronic study. A
RASCO, DHASCO and Formulaid were found to have a no-observable-adverse
-effect level of more than 2.5 g/kg/day, 1.25 g/kg/day and 3.75 g/kg/d
ay, respectively. This represents a 50-fold safety margin over the int
ended use of Formulaid in infant formula. Survival, clinical signs, bo
dy weight gain, food consumption, haematology, clinical chemistry and
histopathological evaluations failed to show any significant differenc
es in animals administered ARASCO, DHASCO or Formulaid compared with t
hat in control animals administered equal amounts of high oleic sunflo
wer oil. The bioavailability of ARASCO, DHASCO and Formulaid was verif
ied by increases in DHA and ARA levels in heart and liver tissues in t
hese animals. Because these oils are enriched in only a single bioacti
ve fatty acid, and they have been shown to be safe, they may offer a n
ew source of these fatty acids in speciality foods such as infant form
ula. Copyright (C) 1996 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd