Metabolic and functional changes in macrophages of rats fed polyunsaturated or saturated fatty acid rich-diets during ageing.

Previous reports from our laboratory showed that rats fed a polyunsaturated fatty acid-rich diet (UC), during an acute intervals, present important changes in macrophage metabolism and function, while a saturated fatty acid diet (SC) did not induce significant changes (10). In this study, two important questions were addressed: 1. the persistence of the changes induced by the UC and 2. the effect of a SC offered during ageing. The maximal activities of hexokinase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glutaminase, citrate synthase and glutathione peroxidase and the total content of lipid peroxides were measured in resident and inflammatory macrophages of rats fed control chow (CC), UC or SC during 14 months. Intraperitoneal cell migration by thioglycollate injection and the phagocytosis capacity were also evaluated. The results indicate that: 1) the changes caused by UC are exacerbated during ageing, and 2) the SC, given during a prolonged period of time, also caused important alterations of macrophage metabolism and function.