linoleic-acid and Cerebrovascular-Disorders

Following the suckling period, stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR-SP) were fed semi-purified diets supplemented either with safflower seed oil (rich in linoleic acid) or with perilla seed oil (rich in alpha-linolenic acid). The mean survival time of male SHR-SP fed the perilla diet was longer than that fed the safflower diet by 17% (p less than 0.001) while the difference was 15% in female SHR-SP (p less than 0.05). The mean survival times of female SHR-SP were more than 40% longer than those of male SHR-SP in both dietary groups. Post-mortem examinations of brains revealed apoplexy-related symptoms as the major cause of the death in both dietary groups. The systolic blood pressure was lower by ca. 10% (21 mmHg) in the perilla group than in both the safflower group and conventional diet group. The eicosapentaenoate (20:5 n-3)/arachidonate (20:4 n-6) ratio of platelet phospholipids in spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR), a measure of platelet aggregability, was much higher in the perilla group than in the safflower group. Thus, increasing the dietary alpha-linolenate/linoleate ratio resulted in an increased mean survival time of SHR-SP rats, possibly by lowering blood pressure and platelet aggregability.

Topics: alpha-Linolenic Acid; Animals; Blood Pressure; Cerebrovascular Disorders; Dietary Fats; Female; Linoleic Acid; Linoleic Acids; Linolenic Acids; Longevity; Male; Plant Oils; Platelet Aggregation; Rats; Rats, Inbred SHR; Rats, Inbred WKY; Reference Values; Safflower Oil; Sex Factors

Lipid analysis of different constituents in the blood of patients with stroke revealed that an increased level of total serum cholesterol was infrequently (that of triglycerides more frequently) associated with stroke in middle-aged men, whereas the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol content was low in all but young patients with stroke. High contents of cholestanol and low contents of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids predict the development of stroke in middle-aged men and are found in both middle-aged men with stroke and elderly patients with multi-infarct dementia. Young patients with unexpected stroke had normal serum sterol, triglyceride, and fatty acid contents but markedly reduced arachidonic acid levels in the platelets, a change that was normalized by treatment with aspirin. The results emphasize that the etiopathogenesis of ischemic brain damage may vary markedly from one age group to another.

Topics: Adult; Age Factors; Brain Ischemia; Cerebrovascular Disorders; Fatty Acids; Humans; Linoleic Acid; Linoleic Acids; Lipids; Male; Middle Aged; Prospective Studies