Fatty acid composition of selected organs of gerbils maintained on a fat‐deficient or fat‐supplemented diet

The fatty acid composition of liver, heart, and testes was determined in gerbils maintained on a fat‐deficient or fatsupplemented diet since the age of twenty‐eight days and in gerbil pups, the mothers of which were placed on the respective diets on the day of delivery. Pups born to these mothers were killed at 11 to 19 days at which time increased concentrations of 16∶1, 18∶1, and 20∶3ω9 and decreased concentrations of 18∶2 and 20∶4 (and 22∶5ω6 in testes) were apparent in organs of fat‐deficient compared to fat‐supplemented gerbils. Similar but more marked changes occurred in organs of gerbils placed on the fat‐deficient diet at twenty‐eight days of age and examined at intervals of time up to two months later. In these animals, minimal changes were seen also in fatty acids of the brain. The concentration of 22∶6ω3 was resistant to change with the fat‐deficient diet. Deficient gerbils had hair loss, decreased quantities of spermatids and spermatozoa in the testis, and most but not all had decreased body weight compared to the fat‐supplemented controls. Extremely high concentrations of oleic acid were present in carcass fatty acids of deficient compared to supplemented gerbils, indicating an extremely dynamic fatty acid metabolism in these animals.