Differential Anti‐Adipogenic Effects of Eicosapentaenoic and Docosahexaenoic Acids in Obesity

• Published in: Molecular nutrition & food research 2019-07, Vol.63 (14), p.e1801135-n/a
• Main Authors: Zhuang, Pan, Lu, Yanhua, Shou, Qiyang, Mao, Lei, He, Lilin, Wang, Jun, Chen, Jingnan, Zhang, Yu, Jiao, Jingjing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adipocytes; Adipose tissue; adiposity; Body fat; Body weight; Browning; browning of white adipose; Diet; Dietary supplements; Docosahexaenoic acid; Eicosapentaenoic acid; Energy measurement; Fish oils; Gas chromatography; High fat diet; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Nutrition; Obesity; Overweight; Preadipocytes
• ISSN: 1613-4125; 1613-4133
• DOI: 10.1002/mnfr.201801135

Scope To assess the associations of plasma eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with body fat in a population‐based sample and explore the mechanism of action based on browning of white adipose tissue (WAT) in high‐fat‐diet‐induced obese (DIO) mice and 3T3‐L1 adipocytes. Methods and results Plasma EPA and DHA of 1719 adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2003–2004) are determined by gas chromatography mass spectrometry, while total body fat is measured by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry. DIO mice are fed a high‐fat diet supplemented with EPA or DHA (1% wt/wt) for 15 weeks and 3T3‐L1 preadipocytes are treated with EPA or DHA during differentiation. Plasma DHA but not EPA is associated with lower body fat mass (ptrend < 0.0001), which persists in overweight/obese subjects (ptrend = 0.02). DHA supplementation reduces inguinal WAT and exhibits a more pronounced thermogenic effect than EPA in DIO mice. In vitro, the browning process is induced after 2‐day and 6‐day treatment with DHA and EPA, respectively. Conclusion Plasma DHA but not EPA is inversely associated with body fat mass. The more potent anti‐adipogenic effect of DHA than EPA may involve a better capability of inducing browning of WAT for DHA. This study shows that plasma docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) but not eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is associated with lower BMI and body fat (%) in a nationwide population‐based sample (n = 1719). Such inverse association also persists in overweight/obese participants. Furthermore, DHA supplementation reduces inguinal fat mass and exhibits a more potent thermogenic effect than EPA in obese mice. In vitro, DHA is able to induce the browning process earlier than EPA in the differentiation stage of 3T3‐L1 adipocytes.