Activation of polyunsaturated fatty acids by rat tissues in vitro.

The conversion of labeled palmitic, linoleic, arachidonic and docosahexaenoic acids to their respective acyl CoA's was studied in homogenates and microsomes of rat tissues. The highest activity, both in homogenates and microsomes, was seen in liver and heart. There was moderate activity in retina, brain, lung, kidney and testes and the lowest activity was found in spleen. Docosahexaenoic acid was activated much less actively in heart tissue than the other fatty acids. In all tissues examined, the highest activation was observed with arachidonic acid and the lowest with docosahexaenoic acid. Except for liver, those tissues that contained high levels of docosahexaenoic acid also had the highest activation capacity for this fatty acid.