Higher efficacy of dietary DHA provided as a phospholipid than as a triglyceride for brain DHA accretion in neonatal piglets

Long-chain PUFAs (LCPUFAs) occur in foods primarily in the natural lipid classes, triacylglycerols (TAGs) or phospholipids (PLs). We studied the relative efficacy of the neural omega-3 DHA provided in formula to growing piglets as a dose of ¹³C-DHA bound to either TAG or phosphatidylcholine (PC). Piglets were assigned to identical formula-based diets from early life and provided with TAG-¹³C-DHA or PC-¹³C-DHA orally at 16 days. Days later, piglet organs were analyzed for ¹³C-DHA and other FA metabolites. PC-¹³C-DHA was 1.9-fold more efficacious for brain gray matter DHA accretion than TAG-¹³C-DHA, and was similarly more efficacious in gray matter synaptosomes, retina, liver, and red blood cells (RBCs). Liver labeling was greatest, implying initial processing in that organ followed by export to other organs, and suggesting that transfer from gut to bloodstream to liver in part drove the difference in relative efficacy for tissue accretion. Apparent retroconversion to 22:5n-3 was more than double for PC-¹³C-DHA and was more prominent in neural tissue than in liver or RBCs. These data directly support greater efficacy for PC as a carrier for LCPUFAs compared with TAG, consistent with previous studies of arachidonic acid and DHA measured in other species.