Glew R H, Torres V A, Huang Y-S, Chuang L-T, VanderJagt D J
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Room 249, BMSB, Albuquerque, NM 87131-5221, USA.
Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2003 Oct;69(4):245-52. doi: 10.1016/s0952-3278(03)00091-7.
The semi-nomadic cattle Fulani of northern Nigeria consume a diet rich in saturated fatty acids. Since the quality of an individual's dietary fat can influence the fatty acid composition of their membrane phospholipids (PL), we investigated the effect consumption of relatively large amounts of saturated fat might have on the fatty acid composition and fluidity of the serum PL of the Fulani. We obtained blood serum from 112 Fulani pastoralists (38 males, 74 females) 15-77 years of age and determined the serum fatty acid composition of the total PL fraction of each specimen. Our results indicate that the PL of the Fulani were enriched for saturated fatty acids. The unsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio was 1.02 for the Fulani PL compared to 1.22-2.08 for seven other reference groups drawn from published reports. In addition, the mean melting point (MMP) of the fatty acyl chains of the serum PL of the Fulani was considerably higher than that of the reference populations (MMP, 30.6 degrees C versus 21.3-26.1 degrees C, respectively). The double bond index (DBI) of the serum PL of the Fulani was much lower than that of the PL of the groups against which comparisons were made (DBI, 0.98 versus 1.24-1.43, respectively). Since serum PL and tissue PL are in dynamic equilibrium, these findings suggest that the tissue PL of the Fulani we studied has considerably less fluid character than those of other populations. Since a variety of membrane functions depend on the fluid property of the acyl chains of their constituent PL, it is conceivable that certain critical membrane-dependent systems, including receptor-ligand interactions, solute transport, enzyme activity and lateral movement of macromolecules, are affected in the Fulani.
尼日利亚北部半游牧的富拉尼族以富含饱和脂肪酸的食物为食。由于个体饮食脂肪的质量会影响其膜磷脂（PL）的脂肪酸组成，我们研究了摄入相对大量饱和脂肪可能对富拉尼族血清PL的脂肪酸组成和流动性产生的影响。我们从112名年龄在15至77岁之间的富拉尼族牧民（38名男性，74名女性）中获取血清，并测定了每个样本总PL部分的血清脂肪酸组成。我们的结果表明，富拉尼族的PL富含饱和脂肪酸。富拉尼族PL的不饱和/饱和脂肪酸比率为1.02，而从已发表报告中选取的其他七个参考组的该比率为1.22至2.08。此外，富拉尼族血清PL的脂肪酰链平均熔点（MMP）明显高于参考人群（MMP分别为30.6摄氏度和21.3至26.1摄氏度）。富拉尼族血清PL的双键指数（DBI）远低于进行比较的组的PL的双键指数（DBI分别为0.98和1.24至1.43）。由于血清PL和组织PL处于动态平衡，这些发现表明，我们研究的富拉尼族的组织PL的流动性明显低于其他人群。由于各种膜功能取决于其组成PL的酰链的流动性，可以想象富拉尼族中某些关键的膜相关系统，包括受体 - 配体相互作用、溶质转运、酶活性和大分子的侧向移动，都会受到影响。
