DIETARY NUCLEOTIDES CORRECT PLASMA AND LIVER MICROSOMAL FATTY-ACID ALTERATIONS IN RATS WITH LIVER-CIRRHOSIS INDUCED BY ORAL INTAKE OF THIOACETAMIDE

Background/Aims: Dietary nucleotides modulate a number of metabolic pr ocesses, including long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid metabolism. I n this study we evaluated the effect of dietary nucleotides on plasma and liver microsomal fatty acid profiles in a rat model of liver cirrh osis induced by oral intake of thioacetamide. Methods: Fifty-four fema le Wistar rats were assigned to one of the following groups: rats in t he thioacetamide group (n=45) mere given 300 mg thioacetamide/l in the ir drinking water for 4 months, and rats in the control group (n=9) re ceived water during the same period. After 4 months of treatment, 9 ra ts in each group mere killed. The remaining rats in the thioacetamide group were divided into two new groups, and the animals in each mere a llowed to recover for 1 or 2 weeks on either a nucleotide-free diet or the same diet supplemented with 50 mg of each of the following: AMP, GMP, CMP, IMP and UMP per 100 g diet. Results: Saturated (mainly stear ic acid), monounsaturated, and n-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty ac ids (mainly arachidonic acid), and also the unsaturation index decreas ed in plasma of rats with experimental cirrhosis. Administration of th e diet supplemented with nucleotides to thioacetamide-treated rats cor rected plasma levels of saturated, n-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatt y acids and the unsaturation index. In liver microsomes, the cirrhotic rats showed lower levels of protein and higher levels of palmitic, ol eic, linoleic and arachidonic acids. Protein concentrations and levels of all the above-mentioned fatty acids were corrected with the nucleo tide-enriched diet. Conclusions: Dietary nucleotides contribute to cor recting plasma and liver microsomal fatty acid alterations in rats wit h liver cirrhosis induced by chronic oral administration of thioacetam ide.