Alterations in Membrane Fatty Acid Unsaturation and Chain Length in Hypertension as Observed by 1H NMR Spectroscopy

Alterations in fatty acids of membrane phospholipids in essential hypertension may account for altered membrane ion transport, elasticity, and contractility properties of hypertensive tissues. To investigate the abnormalities in membrane fatty acids in essential hypertension, the degree of fatty acid unsaturation ([–CH=CH–]/[–CH3]), the average carbon chain length, ratio of glycerol to fatty acyl chains, ratio of phosphatidylcholine to fatty acyl chains, and the ratio of free and acylated cholesterol to fatty acyl chains in fatty acid fractions of membrane phospholipids of aorta, kidney, and heart were determined in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The degrees of fatty acid unsaturation in the aorta and the kidney membranes were significantly lower in SHR than in WKY rats (aorta, 0.53 ± 0.01 v 0.63 ± 0.01, n = 5, P = .01; kidney, 0.70 ± 0.01 v 0.84 ± 0.03, n = 10, P = .01). No significant difference could be detected in fatty acid unsaturation in heart membranes between these two strains. For aorta, kidney, and heart membranes, the average carbon chain lengths of fatty acid fractions of membrane phospholipids were significantly shorter for SHR than for WKY rats (aorta, 15.1 ± 0.2 v 18.3 ± 0.7, n = 5, P = .02; kidney, 14.5 ± 0.2 v 16.4 ± 0.4, n = 10, P = .01; heart, 17.3 ± 0.5 v 18.8 ± 0.6, n = 10, P = .05). The lower unsaturated fatty acid content in membrane phospholipids of the aorta and the kidney, with concomitant reduction in average chain length, may arise from increased oxidation of fatty acid double bonds in hypertensive tissues and may account, in part, for the increased aortic stiffness and abnormal kidney function associated with essential hypertension. Whether the lower unsaturated fatty acid content and decreased carbon chain length of phospholipid membranes in the aorta and the kidney are a cause or a consequence of the high blood pressure, however, remains unknown.