Effect of cell age on erythrocyte fatty acid composition in rats on different dietary regimes

1. Rat erythrocytes were fractionated into young, mature and old cell fractions by centrifugation. The fatty acid composition of each fraction was determined by gas-liquid chromatography, under four different dietary conditions: with adequate linoleic acid in the diet, with a diet deficient in linoleic acid, and with the deficient diet supplemented with corn oil for 3 and 12 days. 2. Significant differences were observed in the fatty acid composition of cells of different ages on all diets. The pattern of fatty acid distribution depended on the particular acid in question, on its concentration in the total erythrocyte sample and on the nature of the dietary fat. 3. When corn oil was fed to rats that had been fed previously on a deficient diet, the changes in fatty acid composition that occurred depended on the acid and on the cell age. For example, young cells were more active in incorporating palmitic acid and arachidonic acid but incorporated linoleic acid at a slightly lower rate than older cells. 4. These results are believed to indicate the presence in the erythrocyte of transacylases with different specificities, and to show that transacylase activity changes as the cells age.