%0 Journal Article
%T RBC and WBC fatty acid composition following consumption of an omega 3 supplement: Lessons for future clinical trials
%A Theodore R Witte
%A Alexander J Salazar
%A Oscar F Ballester
%A W Elaine Hardman
%J Lipids in Health and Disease
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1476-511x-9-31
%X We found that the fraction of omega 3 fatty acids in both red blood cells and white blood cells increased following consumption of the supplement. There was a linear, dose responsive increase in the fraction of omega 3 fatty acids in red blood cells but the increase in omega 3 in white blood cells was not linear. The magnitude of increase in omega 3 fatty acids was different between the two cell types.Fatty acid analysis of red blood cells is a good measure of compliance with supplement consumption. However, fatty acid analysis of white blood cells is needed to correlate changes in fatty acid composition of white blood cells with other biochemical changes in the white blood cells.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00899353.Humans are unable to synthesize the omega 3 or omega 6 bonds, thus, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are essential fats which we must obtain from food. The ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats in the average western and/or modern diet is heavily weighted in favor of omega-6[1]. Omega-3 deficiencies have been implicated in growth retardation, neurological dysfunction, and excessive blood clotting[1]. In recent years, results from increasing numbers of in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that omega 3 fatty acids incorporated in cell culture media or in the diet of the animals can suppress the growth of cancers [summarized in [2]]. When human clinical trials to determine the ability of omega 3 fatty acids to alter growth or response to chemotherapeutic interventions of cancers are initiated, it will be essential to determine the omega 3 intake of individuals in the trial to correlate with endpoints of efficacy. It will also be useful to determine the omega 3 incorporation in specific tissues to correlate change in fatty acid composition of the tissue with response to therapy.A commonly used measure of intake and incorporation of dietary or supplementary fatty acids into cells is the gas chromatographic analysis of lipid composition of the specimen[3,4]. In
%U http://www.lipidworld.com/content/9/1/31