Possible Interaction: Phospholipids and Docosahexaenoic Acid

“Consumption of DHA capsules increased DHA levels in serum phospholipid by 246% (from 2.4 to 8.3 g/100 g fatty acids) and in platelet phospholipid by 225% (from 1.2 to 3.9 g/100 g fatty acids).”

“EPA and DHA supplementation changes the concentrations of multiple plasma PLFAs besides EPA and DHA.Both relative weight percentage and absolute concentrations could effectively measure changes in plasma phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) concentrations.”

“The additional double bond in DHA causes it to adopt a “hairpin” structure that is able to interact with cholesterol, sphingolipids, and phospholipids containing saturated fatty acids and thereby, to disrupt their organization.”

“Dietary supplementation of DHA and EPA influences the fatty acid composition of plasma phospholipids that, in turn, may affect cardiac cell functions in vivo.”

“EPA and DHA showed greater increases and more rapid washout period decreases in plasma phospholipids than in erythrocyte membranes.”

“Incorporation of DHA was also detected in PC, PE and PS, whereas the relative AA content of these phospholipids was significantly reduced.”

“ DHA supplementation significantly increased DHA in RBC total lipids (7.9 vs. 4.4 wt%), in RBC ….1 vs. 6.5 wt%), in RBC PC (3.8 vs. 1.4 wt%), and in plasma phospholipids (PL) (7.4 vs. 2.8 wt%), … levels rose to a much lesser extent.”

“Additionally, dietary DHA significantly affects phospholipid DHA concentrations.”

“The relative percentage of EPA, docosapentaenoic acid and DHA in serum phospholipids increased sharply (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001).”

“We found significantly lower percentages (% …) of both AA and DHA … plasma phospholipids [AA: 7.0 (0.7) vs 8.7 (0.8); DHA: 0.90 (0.2) vs 2.6 (0.…), median (interquartile range), P<0.001] in severely malnourished children aged 29 (7) months than in control subjects.”