• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.198-205
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• 2006

This study was designed to investigate the possibility of the use of dried mackerel, which is enriched with docosahexaenoic (22:6n-3, DHA) and eicosapentaenoic (20:5n-3, EPA) acids, as a means of increasing the intake of these n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and to investigate the effect of the consumption of mackerel on tissue triglyceride, cholesterol contents and fatty acid compositions. Twenty male mice were fed on 5% palm oil (control group) and 5% dried mackerel (mackerel group) diets for four weeks. Total triglyceride, cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels tended to decrease in serum, heart and kidney of the mackerel group compared to the control group, while HDL-cholesterol levels were increased with the intake of mackerel. In fatty acid compositions of serum and heart, the mackerel group showed increased percentages of n-3 fatty acids, especially DHA and EPA, and decreased percentages of arachidonic (20:4n-6, AA) and docosapentaenoic (22:5n-6, DPAn-6) acids compared to the control group (p<0.05). There was a similar tendency in kidney and adipose tissue but AA levels were not significantly different between the control and mackerel groups. These results indicate that intake of dried mackerel as the n-3 vehicle for increasing tissue n-3 fatty acids may be associated with improvement in lipid metabolism.