1992 Volume 12 Issue 1 Pages 51-57
This study examined fish oil storage using samples from 7 autopsied patients. Four of these seven patients had been under intravenous alimentation for more than 2 months without supplementation of fish oils. Both subcutaneous and omental adipose tissues were rich in n-9 and n-6 fatty acids but poor in the n-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. In contrast, fish oil fatty acids were abundant in liver lipids, especially in phospholipids. The absolute amounts of EPA and DHA in total lipids were calculated based on the actual weighed liver and on the estimated total adipose tissue mass. The mean liver EPA and DHA contents were 2.59 and 9.65g, respectively, whereas mean adipose tissue EPA was 0.89g and DHA 2.90g. Thus the absolute fish oil fatty acid content in liver was about 3 times greater than that in the adipose tissue mass. Gas liquid chromatographic chemical-ionization mass spectrometry clearly identified the fish oil fatty acids from the autopsied patients as being the same as authentic standards purified from fish. These findings provide evidence that ingested fish oils are stored in the human liver for more than 2 months.
