[Effect of various unsaturated fatty acids on the stability of the erythrocyte membrane in the rat].

In rats restrictive feeding of a half-synthetic diet, with coconut fat as the dietary fat, caused an essential fatty acid deficiency with increased osmotic fragility of erythrocytes against hypotonic saline solutions. A 60% replacement of the coconut fat in the basal diet by pure oleic acid (18:1 n-9) or linoleic acid (18:2 n-6) by 0.6% alpha-linolenic acid (18:3 n-3), eicosatrienoic acid (20:3 n-3) or eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5 n-3) led, in the case of linoleic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid, to a significant decrease in the fragility of rat erythrocytes in comparison with the basal diet. The inefficacy of the alpha-linolenic acid treatment is possibly the consequence of a too low dietary supplementation.