Carnahan, Sharyn (2013) Investigating fatty acid composition in the diet to determine biomarkers indicative of obesity-related disease. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
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Abstract
This research investigated the role that dietary fatty acids have in the detection of obesity-related diseases. While studies have focused on whether fatty acid composition changes due to various obesity-related diseases, e.g. Cardiovascular, metabolic syndrome, very few have investigated whether fatty acids can be used as biomarkers to detect the predilection towards obesity. In response this project investigated a range of animal and plant oils, as well as liver and adipose tissue samples to determine whether the composition of fatty acids is similar between a low fat diet and a high carbohydrate high fat diet, simulating the unhealthy diet eaten by many. Through the use of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) which were derivitized using two different methods using either H2SO4 or BF3 as catalysts, samples were analysed by GC-MS. While both methods were viable, BF3 proved to be the more reliable method. Previous research completed by this laboratory was extended using tissue samples not previously examined. Results indicated that supplementation of the diet by EPA (C20:5) possibly attenuates the impact of obesity-related inflammation (p<0.05). Increased levels of n-3 PUFA in tissues from a diet supplemented with EPA indicates that preferential metabolism of anti-inflammatory eicosanoids may occur. The outcome of this research indicates that the composition of fatty acids produced by varying diets does differ and therefore may have an impact on obesity-related diseases. This research has contributed to current knowledge by extending previous findings (Poudyal et al., 2012b) from other tissues and provides further indication that study should continue in examining what role eicosanoids play in attenuating obesity-related diseases.
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