Consumption of echium oil increases EPA and DPA in blood fractions more efficiently compared to linseed oil in humans

A high concentration of long-chain (LC) n-3 PUFA in human tissue is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) [1, 2]. Thus, there has been an increasing interest in incorporating n-3 PUFA into the diet. In order to meet dietary eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3; EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3; DHA) recommendations, the American Heart Association recommends consumption of two servings of fish (particularly oily fish) per week [3]. However, the provision of marine LC n-3 PUFA for the (increasing) human population made difficult by problems such as the overfishing and pollution of the marine environment. Further, not everyone eats fish and some people suffer from fish protein allergy. Hence, there is a need to find alternative sources of LC n-3 PUFA for both human nutrition and aquaculture fish feed.

Linseed oil (Linum usitatissimum L.), also known as flaxseed oil, which naturally contains up to 60 % of the plant-based α-linolenic acid (18:3n-3, ALA), is the essential precursor of LC n-3 PUFA metabolites [4]. Supplementation with linseed oil has previously been shown to increase n-3 PUFA stores in humans. However, conversion of ALA to LC n-3 PUFA is limited and insufficient to achieve adequate tissue levels of EPA. DHA synthesis, in particular, is extremely limited [5-8].

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Over the past few years, several novel dietary sources of LC n-3 PUFA for human consumption have been considered [9, 10]. High potential to improve LC n-3 PUFA supply has stearidonic acid (18:4n-3, SDA), another plant-based n-3 PUFA and an intermediate of ALA. SDA is present in high concentrations in some plant families, such as Primulaceae and especially Boraginaceae [11]. Seed oils from echium species (Boraginaceae) are unique due to their high concentrations of SDA and ALA together with γ-linolenic acid (18:3n-6, GLA) [11]. Oil from Echium plantagineum is an approved novel food available as a food ingredient. In humans, the ability of SDA to increase EPA in blood is higher than that of ALA, presumably because it bypasses the rate-limiting Δ6-desaturase step [12]. Transgenic SDA-containing soybean (16-28 % SDA), canola, and linseed oils have been developed [13, 14] and recently studied [14-17]. However, genetically modified foods are to date not well accepted by consumers in Europe [9]. Therefore, naturally occurring echium oil and linseed oil were chosen for the present project.

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In general, SDA-containing oils possess potent anti-lipidemic and hepatoprotective effects. Echium oil has been shown to lower serum triglycerides [18-20]. Therefore, it is likely that echium oil may play a role in preventing progression of CVD and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The primary aim of the entire project including the two present studies was to compare the increase of LC n-3 PUFA in plasma, RBC, and PBMC after consumption of 5 g ALA + 2 g SDA from natural echium oil (study 1) compared to only ALA (5 g) from linseed oil (study 2) under the same study conditions. The secondary aim was to investigate the influence of sex, increased age and higher BMI on conversion of ALA and SDA as well as on clinical blood markers. As controls for fatty acid metabolism, n-3 PUFA-poor olive oil (negative control) and EPA-fish oil (positive control) were supplemented throughout the entire project.

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