The abundance of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in phospholipids in the brain and retina has generated interest to search for its role in mediating neurological functions. Besides the source of many oxylipins with pro-resolving properties, DHA also undergoes peroxidation, producing 4-hydroxyhexenal (4-HHE), although its function remains elusive. Despite wide dietary consumption, whether supplementation of DHA may alter the peroxidation products and their relationship to phospholipid species in brain and other body organs have not been explored sufficiently. In this study, adult mice were administered a control or DHA-enriched diet for 3 weeks, and phospholipid species and peroxidation products were examined in brain, heart, and plasma. Results demonstrated that this dietary regimen increased (n-3) and decreased (n-6) species to different extent in all major phospholipid classes (PC, dPE, PE-pl, PI and PS) examined. Besides changes in phospholipid species, DHA-enriched diet also showed substantial increases in 4-HHE in brain, heart, and plasma. Among different brain regions, the hippocampus responded to the DHA-enriched diet showing significant increase in 4-HHE. Considering the pro- and anti-inflammatory pathways mediated by the (n-6) and (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids, unveiling the ability for DHA-enriched diet to alter phospholipid species and lipid peroxidation products in the brain and in different body organs may be an important step forward towards understanding the mechanism(s) for this (n-3) fatty acid on health and diseases.

大脑和视网膜的磷脂中富含二十二碳六烯酸 (DHA)，这引起了人们对寻找其在调节神经功能中的作用的兴趣。除了许多具有促溶解特性的氧脂素的来源外，DHA 还会发生过氧化反应，产生 4-羟基己烯醛 (4-HHE)，尽管其功能仍然难以捉摸。尽管饮食消费广泛，但补充 DHA 是否会改变过氧化产物及其与大脑和其他身体器官中磷脂的关系尚未得到充分研究。在这项研究中，成年小鼠被给予对照或富含 DHA 的饮食 3 周，并检查大脑、心脏和血浆中的磷脂种类和过氧化产物。结果表明，这种饮食方案在检查的所有主要磷脂类别（PC、dPE、PE-pl、PI 和 PS）中不同程度地增加了 (n-3) 种并减少了 (n-6) 种物质。除了磷脂种类的变化外，富含 DHA 的饮食还显示大脑、心脏和血浆中的 4-HHE 显着增加。在不同的大脑区域中，海马体对富含 DHA 的饮食做出反应，显示 4-HHE 显着增加。考虑到 (n-6) 和 (n-3) 多不饱和脂肪酸介导的促炎和抗炎途径，揭示了富含 DHA 的饮食改变大脑和不同身体中的磷脂种类和脂质过氧化产物的能力器官可能是朝着了解这种 (n-3) 脂肪酸对健康和疾病的机制迈出的重要一步。