Effect of chronic ingestion of DDT on physiological and biochemical aspects of essential fatty acid deficiency.

Male weanling rats were fed semipurified diets with and without essential fatty acid (EFA) and DDT (150 ppm) for 14 weeks to determine the effects of the pesticide on physiological and biochemical aspects of EFA deficiency (EFAD). DDT did not affect EFAD-induced reduction in growth rate of final body weight, nor did the pesticide affect EFAD-induced changes in feed efficiency or skin dermatitis. The pesticide did increase liver/body mass ratios, but did not interact with EFAD, which also increased this ratio. The pesticide produced complex changes in total fatty acid composition of liver and tail skin; liver levels of 18:0, 18:2 and 20:3 omega 9 were increased, whereas levels of 12:0, 14:0 and 16:0 were decreased. In both tissues, DDT interacted with EFA to increase 18:2 levels. DDT did not change the total fatty acid 20:3 omega 9/20:4 omega 6 ratio in either tissue. In this study, although DDT did not exacerbate the physiological aspects of EFAD, DDT-induced changes in fatty acid composition of liver and tail skin indicated that 150 ppm DDT in the diets did alter lipid metabolism of the rats in an unexplained manner.