Comparison of the effects of evening primrose oil and triglycerides containing gamma-linolenic acid on nerve conduction and blood flow in diabetic rats.

The aim was to ascertain whether the ability of evening primrose oil (EPO) treatment to correct peripheral nerve dysfunction in streptozotocin-diabetic rats depends on a gamma-linolenic acid (GLA)-containing triglyceride constituent, di-linolein mono-gamma-linolenate (DLMG). A second objective was to investigate whether the triglyceride conformation of GLA affects efficacy, using tri-gamma-linolenate (TGLA), which is not present in EPO. Third, we examined the actions of these omega-6 essential fatty acid-containing oils on sciatic nerve blood flow to establish a common mechanism. After 6 weeks of diabetes, sciatic motor nerve conduction velocity (NCV) was 21% reduced. EPO treatment caused dose-dependent increases in NCV that reached asymptote within 7 days. DLMG and TGLA, at doses matched for GLA content, had effects indistinguishable from those of EPO. Sciatic blood flow, 47.2% reduced by diabetes, was partially normalized by EPO, DLMG and TGLA. In contrast, sunflower oil (which does not contain GLA) did not alter NCV or blood flow. The data therefore provide strong evidence that DLMG is the active component of EPO and suggest that correction of nerve dysfunction involves a vascular action. The precise triglyceride configuration of GLA does not appear crucial to its effects in experimental diabetic neuropathy.