Fatty acid turnover rates in the adipose tissues of the growing chicken (Gallus domesticus).

The purpose of this study was to investigate the mobility of fatty acids in adipose tissue of the chicken and to determine whether adipose tissue dynamics are altered by dietary repartitioning agents. To this end, the turnover rates of fatty acids and triglycerides were estimated in adipose tissue of growing chicks by using isopentadecanoic acid (IPDA) and elaidic acid (EA) as marker dietary fatty acids. The half-life of IPDA in abdominal and sartorial adipose tissues of birds over 6 to 10 wk of age were 20 +/- 4 and 23 +/- 6 d, respectively. The half-life for the remaining total carcass lipids was 23 +/- 3 d. The corresponding half-life for EA in abdominal fat tissue of birds over 2 to 7 wk of age was 18 +/- 3 d, a half-life not significantly different from the IPDA half-lives. On the other hand, a thyromimetic repartitioning agent (L-94901) fed to birds at the 2 ppm level from 2 to 7 wk of age significantly decreased the half-life of EA in abdominal fat tissue to 6 +/- 2 d. The data suggest that fatty acids were released from a more labile adipose site and subsequently reincorporated into abdominal and sartorial tissues and that fat mobilization occurred at the same time as did adipose tissue deposition in the growing chicken.