OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of dietary saturated fat (SFA) from animal sources on the urine excretion 11-dehydro thromboxane B2 (TXB2) and 6-keto prostaglandin F 1alpha (PGF 1alpha) in 27 healthy free-living male subjects aged 30 to 55 years.

METHODSIt was a randomized crossover design. Each volunteer was randomly assigned to one of the two diets (high fat and low fat) for a period of 4 weeks, after which each subject resumed his usual diet for 2 weeks as a 'wash-out period', before being assigned to the other diet for an additional 4 weeks.

RESULTSSerum proportion of 20:4n-6 was 5% lower in the high fat (6.2% of total fatty acid) than in the low fat diet (6.5% of total fatty acid), which was associated with a significantly decreased ratio of the urinary excretion 11-dehydro TXB2 to 6-keto PGF 1alpha (P < 0.05). However, there was no significant fall in the absolute urinary excretion of 11-dehydro TXB2.

CONCLUSIONSDiet rich in SFA from animal sources may influence TXA2 formation via effect on tissue proportion of 20:4n-6.

6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha ; urine ; Adult ; Arteriosclerosis ; physiopathology ; Cross-Over Studies ; Dietary Fats ; pharmacology ; Fatty Acids ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Thrombosis ; physiopathology ; Thromboxane B2 ; analogs & derivatives ; urine