Essential fatty acid deficiency and renewal of rod outer segments in the albino rat.

Biochemical studies in albino rats fed a lab chow diet (control) showed a 9 to 10 day turnover time for rhodopsin in rod photoreceptor membranes, whereas the turnover time in animals raised on a fat-free diet (experimental) was not easily measurable. The number of phagosomes in the pigment epithelium of the control group was three times that found in the experimetals. These studies support earlier autoradiographic data which suggested that the renewal of new photoreceptor discs in the rat retina is controlled by the availability of polyunsaturated fatty acids.