Unsaturated fatty acid feeding prevents the development of acute hepatitis in Long-Evans cinnamon (LEC) rats

To investigate the effects of dietary α-linolenic acid (18:3, n-3; α-LNA) and linoleic acid (18:2, n-6; LA) on the development of hereditary hepatitis, we compared incidences and grades of acute hepatitis between the Long-Evans cinnamon (LEC) rats fed with safflower oil-supplemented diet and perilla oil-supplemented diet. Both safflower and perilla oil supplemented diets reduced the incidence of hepatitis and significantly prolonged its onset as compared to the nonsupplemented conventional diet. No significant difference was observed between safflower and perilla oil diets in the rats of incidence of hepatitis. At the age of 16 weeks, just before the onset of hepatitis, serum levels of transaminase (AST, ALT) and concentration of copper in rats fed with both test diets were significantly reduced as compared with that of rats fed with conventional diets. These results suggest that both dietary α-linolenate and linoleate have an inhibitory effect on the development of hepatitis in LEC rats due to the prevention of serum copper elevation.