Increased EPA levels in serum phospholipids of humans after four weeks daily ingestion of one portion chicken fed linseed and rapeseed oil

• Published in: Lipids in health and disease Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 104
• Main Authors: Haug, Anna, Nyquist, Nicole F, Mosti, Therese J, Andersen, Malin, Høstmark, Arne T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 22-08-2012; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Animal Feed; Animal feeding and feeds; Animals; Arachidonic acid; Arachidonic Acid - blood; Blood cholesterol; Body weight; C-reactive protein; Cancer; Chicken meat; Chickens - metabolism; Cholesterol; Costs (Law); Diet; Double-Blind Method; Eicosapentaenoic Acid - blood; EPA; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids - analysis; Fatty Acids - blood; Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; Feed; Female; Food Analysis; Humans; Linseed oil; Linseed Oil - administration & dosage; Lipids; Low density lipoproteins; Male; Meat - analysis; n-3 fatty acids; Omega-3 fatty acids; Phospholipids; Phospholipids - blood; Physiological aspects; Plant Oils - administration & dosage; Poultry; Rapeseed Oil; Serum phospholipids; Soybean; Soybean oil; Unsaturated fatty acids; Young Adult; Norway
• ISSN: 1476-511X; 1476-511X
• DOI: 10.1186/1476-511X-11-104

Since the amounts of arachidonic acid (AA) and EPA in food may have implications for human health, we investigated whether a small change in chicken feed influenced the blood lipid concentration in humans ingesting the chicken. Forty-six young healthy volunteers (age 20-29) were randomly allocated into two groups in a double-blind dietary intervention trial, involving ingestion of about 160 g chicken meat per day for 4 weeks. The ingested meat was either from chickens given a feed concentrate resembling the commercial chicken feed, containing 4% soybean oil (SO), or the meat was from chickens given a feed where the soybean oil had been replaced by 2% rapeseed oil plus 2% linseed oil (RLO).Serum total cholesterol, LDL and HDL cholesterol, triacylglycerols, serum phospholipid fatty acid concentration, blood pressure, body weight and C-reactive protein were determined at baseline and post-intervention. In subjects consuming chicken meat from the RLO group there was a significantly (p < 0.001) increased concentration of EPA in serum phospholipids, and a reduced ratio between AA and EPA. The participants that had a low% of EPA + DHA in serum phospholipids (less than 4.6%), all increased their% of EPA + DHA after the four week intervention period when consuming the RLO chicken. No significant response differences in cholesterol, triacylglycerol, C-reactive protein, body weight or blood pressure were observed between the groups. This trial demonstrates that a simple change in chicken feed can have beneficial effects on amount of EPA and the AA/EPA ratio in human serum phospholipids.