Dietary methionine level affects linoleic acid metabolism through phosphatidylethanolamine N-methylation in rats.

The effects of dietary methionine level on the profiles of fatty acids and phospholipids and on the plasma cholesterol concentration were investigated to confirm whether the methionine content of dietary proteins is one of the major factors that cause differential effects on lipid metabolism. The effect of dietary supplementation with eritadenine, which is shown to be a potent inhibitor of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) N-methylation, was also investigated. Rats were fed six diets containing casein (100 g/kg) and amino acid mixture (86.4 g/kg) differing in methionine content (2.5, 4.5, and 7.5 g/kg) and without or with eritadenine supplementation (30 mg/kg) for 14 d. The ratio of arachidonic to linoleic acid of liver microsomal and plasma phosphatidylcholine (PC) was significantly increased as the methionine level of diet was elevated, indicating that dietary methionine stimulates the metabolism of linoleic acid. The PC/PE ratio of liver microsomes and the plasma cholesterol concentration were also increased by dietary methionine. These effects of methionine were completely abolished by eritadenine supplementation The S-adenosylmethionine concentration in the liver reflected the methionine level of diet. These results support the idea that the differential effects of dietary proteins on lipid metabolism might be ascribed, at least in part, to their different methionine contents, and that methionine might exert its effects through alteration of PE N-methylation.