Increased arachidonate incorporation in perfused heart phospholipids from vitamin E-deficient rats.

When perfused with exogenous arachidonic acid (AA), the rat heart incorporates this eicosanoid precursor into the phospholipids. The incorporation of AA into phosphatidylcholine was 6-fold higher than the incorporation of AA into phosphatidylethanolamine. When vitamin E-deficient rat hearts were perfused with AA, there was a marked increase in incorporation of AA into both phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine compared to rats fed with a vitamin E supplemented diet. The result of this study suggests that vitamin E has a regulatory role in phospholipid biosynthesis in the mammalian heart.