Docosahexaenoic acid dietary sources

Su, H.M., Bernardo, L., Mirmiran, M., Ma, X.H., Corso, T.N., Nathaneilsz, P.W. and Brenna, J.T. (1999) Bioequivalence of dietary alpha-linolenic and docosahexaenoic acids as sources of docosahexaenoate in brain and associated organs in neonatal baboons. Pediatr. Res. 45 87-93. 

Either native winterized or concentrated whole-body fish oils or fish liver oils have been utilized in most studies as dietary source of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The physiological effects and possible health benefits of administered fish oils generally have been attributed to either EPA or DHA alone or to a synergistic effect between the two. As a result, there has been controversy over the contribution of individual fish oil constituents to particular pharmacological actions and the optimal dosages required for achieving established and/or suspected beneficial effects. The predominant marine triglyceride-derived m-3-fatty acids are all-cA-5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid (C20 5i3, EPA) and all-ci.v-4,7,10,13,16,19-docosa-hexaenoic acid (C22 6,3, DHA). 

Conquer, J.A. and Holub, B.J. (1997) Dietary docosahexaenoic acid as a source of eicosapen-taenoic acid in vegetarians and omnivores. Lipids. 32 341-345. 

Suzuki H, Manabe S, Wada O, Crawford MA. Rapid incorporation of docosahexaenoic acid from dietary sources into brain microsomal, synaptosomal and mitochondrial membranes in adult mice. Int J Vitam Nutr Res 1997 67 272-278. 

Fig. 3. Effects of dietary supplementation with arachidonic acid (AA 0.5%) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA 1%) on performance in Trial 2 of spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) groups at 60-s and 60-min intertrial intervals (ITI). Data are presented as means + SEM. Both strains performed significantly worse on the 60-min ITI and with the novel stimulus than on the 60-s ITI. There were no significant effects of diet. Source adapted from Reference 37.

Fish with high fat contents is an important source of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in the human diet, in particular for docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (EFSA, 2005). On the other side, a wide range of environmental contaminants have been reported to be accumulated in fish that can pose a potential human health hazard (Leonard, 2011). Major contaminations include the different OCPs, PAHs or the widely distributed persistent organic pollutants (POPs) with the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the flame retardants compound class of the polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs). Also farmed fish can significantly contribute to dietary exposure to various contaminants due to the use of land sourced fish feed. A multi method for efficient control of fish and fish feed for various groups of contaminants from PCBs, OCPs, BFRs (brominated flame retardants) and PAHs is outlined in the following analytical procedure published by Kamila Kalachova et al. (Kalachova et al., 2013). 

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