Perturbation of phospholipid metabolism by erucic acid in male Sprague-Dawley rat heart.

Erucic acid was incorporated into cardiac phosphatidylserine and hepatic and cardiac sphingomyelin of male Sprague-Dawley rat. The fatty acid compositions of mitochondrial and microsomal phospholipids were similar in both liver and heart. The effect of a low fat diet and a diet containing erucic acid on the fatty acid composition of mitochondrial and microsomal phospholipids was also similar, except for the effect on sphingomyelin. However, the diet containing erucic acid influenced the metabolism of phosphatidylcholine of the heart but not of the liver, indicating that the turnover of 1-stearoyl-2-arachidonoyl phosphatidylcholine in the heart was inhibited by the diet containing erucic acid. On the other hand, the proportion of erucic acid in the free fatty acid was higher in the heart than in the liver.