Increased levels of esterified arachidonic acid in plasma by feeding gamma-linolenic acid.

The effects of diets containing 5% of methyl-gamma-linolenate (delta 6,9,12) or 5% of methyl-alpha-linolenate (delta 9,12,15) on the fatty acid composition of lipids in rat plasma were studied. After 10 days the cholesterol esters and total phospholipids in the plasma of rats fed gamma-linolenate contained higher percentages of arachidonic acid than the corresponding lipid classes in the plasma of rats fed the alpha-isomer. A fairly high percentage of gamma-linolenic acid was incorporated into the cholesterol esters of rats fed methyl-gamma-linolenate.