Effect of dietary menhaden oil and vitamin E on in vivo lipid peroxidation induced by iron.

Weanling rats were fed diets containing 10% menhaden oil (MO) or 10% corn oil-lard (1:1, COL) with low (less than or equal to 5 IU/kg) or supplementary (35 IU/kg) vitamin E for six weeks. The rats were killed 30 min after injection with 24 mg iron/kg as ferrous chloride because thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) in liver homogenates were highest at 30 min after injection of iron into rats fed a standard diet. Tissue homogenates were used either without incubation (zero-time) or after incubation at 37 degrees C for 1 hr. In addition to TBARS and conjugated dienes, headspace hexanal and total volatiles (TOV) determined by capillary gas chromatography were useful indices of lipid peroxidation since they were decreased by vitamin E supplementation and were increased with increasing iron dose. Regardless of the dietary lipid used, vitamin E supplementation decreased headspace hexanal, TOV, TBARS and conjugated dienes in both zero-time and incubated homogenates of liver and kidney. Dietary MO increased TBARS in both zero-time and incubated homogenates of tissue from rats injected with iron. In contrast, dietary MO decreased hexanal and TOV in incubated tissue homogenates. The study demonstrated the usefulness and limitations of using hexanal and TOV as indices of lipid peroxidation.