Dietary polyenoic fatty acids change the response of cat blood platelets to inductions of aggregation by ADP

Dietary polyenoic fatty acid influence on platelet aggregation has been difficult to assess in mammalian species, as endogenous polyenoic acid production from plant precursors has clouded the effects of diet. The cat is incapable of such endogenous production, and thus is a good experimental model. Adult and juvenile cats dietarily deficient in post delta-6-denaturation fatty acids (PDFA), were supplemented with different PDFA and the ADP-induced platelet aggregation assessed. At the same time, the effects of oral dosage with aspirin, and the exchange of stimulated and non-stimulated plasma were investigated. Animals deficient in all PDFA showed high levels of aggregation, irrespective of aspirin dosage. Feeding only n-6 or n-3 PDFA induced low levels of aggregation, which was reversed by aspirin dosage. Both n-6 and n-3 dietary PDFA together produced very low levels of aggregation, whether aspirin-dosed or not. Thus, ADP-induced platelet aggregation is dependent on the nature of dietary PDFA, and is partially dependent on the presence or absence of aspirin, at least in cases of PDFA imbalance. Non-ADP-stimulated plasma caused only slight changes in aggregation profiles. However, ADP-stimulated plasma from fully sufficient animals produced marked changes in the aggregation pattern of deficient platelets. This indicated the release of an anti-aggregatory substance by normal platelets, but not those of PDFA deficient animals.