Pushing the Omega-3 agenda using cold blooded worms

The following recent publication has been forwarded to me from a
different group. It is a very nice example of flawed experimental
design in current science. I believe the massmedia and supplement
industries will pick it up immediately for their "Omega-3 is safe"
campaigns.

First, the ignorant experts choose worms which are heterothermic and
therefore carry their own long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-
PUFA) synthetic apparatus for the Omega-3 series similarly to the
plants. They are able to synthesize EPA on their own because they
need it for proper membrane fluidity to survive in cold environment.
Because they synthesize and use it naturally they have evolved
appropriate systems to protect them from the deleterious effects of
lipid peroxidation. Note they live just up to 20 days and some oil
paintings need even more to completely dry up - spontaneous lipid
oxidation is a slow process. On the other hand humans living far
beyond 40 years are homeothermic with body temperature high enough to
function without the need of the highly unsaturated fatty acids.
Therefore we don't synthesize them naturally. Instead we synthesize
the Omega-9 Mead acid which is also LC-PUFA but far more stable than
the Omega-3s and fully sufficient for proper membrane fluidity in most
of our tissues. The Omega-6 series had been used mostly for signaling
(eicosanoids) rather then structural purposes in homo sapiens during
specific periods such as reproduction before the vegetable oil
revolution started.

The "best" result they could get in this study was just DHA didn't
shorten the worm 20 days lifespan. They argue that the fat-3 mutant
has shortened lifespan to 16 days but they miss that by knocking down
the fat-3 (delta-6 desaturase) the worms also lack the ability to
synthesize the Omega-6 LC-PUFAs. Fortunately, we have a human
experiment like this - trans fats in margarines and shortening
actually block the delta-6 desaturase. Then humans consuming trans
fats have limited ability to synthesize the LC-PUFAs such as the
natural Omega-9 Mead acid or Omega-6 DGLA/AA or Omega-3 EPA/DHA and
need to supplement them by eating meat or ingesting fish oils
supplements. It may be interesting to look at vegetarian human
population consuming large amount of trans fats in this respect ...

Taka

J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Mar 20.

Quantitative Lipid Analysis and Life Span of the fat-3 Mutant of
Caenorhabditis elegans.

Hillyard SL, German JB.
Department of Food Science and Technology, University of California,
Davis, California 95616.

The long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC PUFAs) docosahexaenoic
acid (DHA, 22:6n3) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n3) are
important for health and development of organisms, but the precise
biological function of these molecules is not known. It has been
suggested that they may play a part in aging, as they are highly
susceptible to oxidation. A genetic mutant of Caenorhabditis elegans
(fat-3), which lacks a functional delta-6 desaturase, and thus LC
PUFAs including EPA, allows dietary manipulation of long-chain n3
fatty acids in this nematode. The life span of C. elegans strains N2
(wild-type) and BX30 [fat-3(wa22)] with and without supplemental EPA
and DHA was analyzed. In addition, quantitative analysis was performed
on total lipids, phospholipids, and triglycerides, as it is important
to understand where fatty acids are being partitioned among the
various lipid classes. The results show a beneficial effect of these
molecules on the life span of C. elegans and will aid in the
elucidation of the underlying causes of PUFA deficiency in the simple
animal C. elegans as well as in humans.
PMID: 19301819

from full text:

"the fatty acid supplementation that failed to rescue the mutant worms
was initiated after the nematodes reached adulthood, there may be a
critical function of EPA that is necessary during development that
cannot be corrected after adulthood is reached."
.

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