Monoacylglycerol-enriched oil increases EPA/DHA delivery to circulatory system in humans with induced lipid malabsorption conditions

Abstract

It was hypothesized that under induced lipid malabsorption/maldigestion conditions, an enriched sn-1(3)-monoacylglycerol (MAG) oil may be a better carrier for n-3 long-chain PUFAs (LC-PUFAs) compared with triacylglycerol (TAG) from fish oil. This monocentric double blinded clinical trial examined the accretion of EPA (500 mg/day) and DHA (300 mg/day) when consumed as TAG or MAG, into the erythrocytes, plasma, and chylomicrons of 45 obese (BMI ≥30 kg/m2 and ≤40 kg/m2) volunteers who were and were not administered Orlistat, an inhibitor of pancreatic lipases. Intake of MAG-enriched oil resulted in higher accretion of LC-PUFAs than with TAG, the concentrations of EPA and DHA in erythrocytes being, respectively, 72 and 24% higher at 21 days (P < 0.001). In addition, MAG increased the plasma concentration of EPA by 56% (P < 0.001) as compared with TAG. In chylomicrons, MAG intake yielded higher levels of EPA with the area under the curve (0-10 h) of EPA being 55% greater (P = 0.012). In conclusion, in obese human subjects with Orlistat-induced lipid maldigestion/malabsorption conditions, LC-PUFA MAG oil increased LC-PUFA levels in erythrocytes, plasma, and chylomicrons to a greater extent than TAG. These results indicate that MAG oil might require minimal enzymatic digestion prior to intestinal uptake and transfer across the epithelial barrier.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01797757.

Keywords: Orlistat; clinical trials; diet effects/lipid metabolism; digestion; docosahexaenoic acid; eicosapentaenoic acid; fatty acid/metabolism; lipase; lipid absorption; obese; polyunsaturated fatty acid.

Copyright © 2016 by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Figures

Fig. 1.

Clinical trial design outline.

Fig. 2.

Accretion of LC-PUFAs at days 0, 7, 14, and 21. EPA content after MAG-enriched oil and TAG supplementation in erythrocytes (A, B) and plasma (C, D) per treatment group (Intention-to-Treat analysis set). Results are expressed in milligrams per deciliter.

Fig. 3.

Accretion of LC-PUFAs at days 0, 7, 14, and 21. DHA content after MAG-enriched oil and TAG supplementation in erythrocytes (A, B) and plasma (C, D) per treatment group (Intention-to-Treat analysis set). Results are expressed in milligrams per deciliter.

Fig. 4.

Acute effect: pharmacokinetic results, EPA (A) and DHA (B) in chylomicrons, AUC over 10 h postprandial. Results are expressed as milligrams per deciliter × hours.