Trans fatty acids. 3. Fatty acid composition of the brain and other organs in the newborn piglet.

The effects of dietary trans fatty acids on tissue fatty acid composition were studied in newborn piglets delivered from sows fed partially hydrogenated fish oil (PHFO) (28% trans) or partially hydrogenated soybean oil (PHSBO) (36% trans) in comparison with lard (0% trans) from 3 wk of age and through gestation in Experiment 1, or fed PHFO or "fully" hydrogenated fish oil (HFO) (19% trans) in comparison with coconut oil (CF) (0% trans) with two levels, 1 and 2.7%, of dietary linoleic acid from conception through gestation in Experiment 2. The piglets were sampled immediately after delivery, without having access to mothers' milk. Incorporation of trans fatty acids into brain PE (phosphatidylethanolamine) were non-detectable or very low (less than 0.1%). The incorporation of 18:1 trans into heart-PE, liver mitochondria-PE, total plasma lipids and adipose tissue was low, and 20:1 trans was not detected. Dietary trans fatty acids had no consistent effects on the overall fatty acid composition of the different tissue lipids. It is concluded that trans fatty acids from PHFO, HFO and PHSBO have no significant effects on the fatty acid accretion in the fetal piglet.