Dietary canola oil: effect on the accumulation of eicosapentaenoic acid in the alkenylacyl fraction of human platelet ethanolamine phosphoglyceride.

Volunteers consumed a mixed-fat diet for 6 d (Pre-exp) and then either a canola-oil-based diet (CAN) containing linolenic acid (18:3n-3) or a sunflower-oil-based diet (SUN) rich in linoleic acid (18:2n-6) for 18 d, followed by the alternative diet in a crossover design. Platelet phospholipids were analyzed for changes in fatty acid composition. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (20:5n-3) was significantly higher in alkenylacyl ethanolamine phosphoglyceride (PPE) and in total phosphatidylcholine (PC) after CAN compared with SUN and Pre-exp. The 22:5n-3 was increased in PPE after CAN above concentrations found after both SUN and Pre-exp. Lower concentrations of 20:4n-6 and 22:4n-6 were observed with CAN in PC and lower concentrations of 22:4n-6 in PPE. These results indicate that the consumption of canola oil moderately increases EPA concentrations and alters the concentrations of other n-6 and n-3 fatty acids in human platelet phospholipids.