The fatty acid profile of buccal cheek cell phospholipids is a noninvasive marker of long-chain polyunsaturated Fatty Acid status in piglets.

The fatty acid pattern of cheek cell phospholipids has been proposed as a noninvasive marker of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) status. However, the cheek cell phospholipid fatty acid pattern has been compared only with that of plasma and erythrocytes. The objective of this study was to assess the extent to which the fatty acid profile of cheek cell phospholipids reflects that of tissue phospholipids. Piglets (n = 31; 6 d old) were fed five formula diets differing in total fat and fatty acid composition. After 14 d of consuming the assigned diets, cheek cell plasma, erythrocyte, liver, muscle, adipose tissue, retina and brain samples were collected for determination of the phospholipid fatty acid patterns. There were significant correlations between the cheek cell phospholipid content of most PUFA and the content of these fatty acids in tissue phospholipids (r = 0.509-0.951, P < 0.01). The cheek cell phospholipid content of most of the PUFA, except 20:4(n-6), reflected that of other tissue phospholipids as well as, or nearly as well as the contents of plasma and/or erythrocyte phospholipids. The correlations between the 22:6(n-3) contents of cheek cell, plasma, or erythrocyte phospholipids and those of brain and retina phospholipids were relatively poor (r = 0.596-0.737, P < 0.001). We conclude that the fatty acid pattern of cheek cell phospholipid can be used as a noninvasive marker of PUFA status, but it is not a better index than the pattern of plasma or erythrocyte phospholipids, particularly for assessing the fatty acid pattern of organs with slow fatty acid incorporation and/or turnover rates.