Fatty acid composition of serum cholesterol esters, and erythrocyte and platelet membranes as indicators of long-term adherence to fat-modified diets.

Dietary adherence to four different fat-modified diets was examined in 160 subjects by determining the fatty acid composition of serum cholesterol esters (CEs) and erythrocyte (ER) and platelet (PT) membranes in addition to food records. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of the following diet groups: 1) high-sat--35/14:104 (% of energy from total/saturated:monounsaturated:polyunsaturated fatty acids in the actual diet) 2) AHA (American Heart Association) type--32/10:8:8 3) monoene-enriched--34/11:11:5, or 4) low-fat--30/12:8:3 for 6 mo. Decreases in the proportions of palmitic acid in CEs were found in the AHA-type and monoene-enriched-diet groups. An increased proportion of linoleic acid in CEs was found in the AHA-type group. The differences in the proportions of palmitic acid in CEs and linoleic and palmitoleic acids in PTs were significant in the AHA-type and monoene-enriched-diet groups compared with the high-sat group. An increase in alpha-linolenic acid in CEs was an indicator of the use of low erucic acid rapeseed oil, which was the main source of monoenes in the monoene-enriched-diet group.