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Fatty acid compositions of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and sphingomyelin (SPM) in kidney of growing rats were studied. The rats were fed cholesterol-enriched semipurified diets containing naringin (N-gin), naringenin (N-nin), hesperidin (H-din), and hesperetin (H-tin) at the level of 1 % for 21 days (Experiment Ⅰ), and they were fed a cholesterol-free diet containing H-tin (1%) for 10 days (Experiment Ⅱ). Control rats were fed the same diet without flavanone. Dietary flavanones had no significant effect on body weight, food intake, and kidney weight. Triglyceride and cholesterol contents of kidney were not influenced by flavanone diets, except for the decrease in cholesterol content of the N-gin group. Both the N-gin group and the N-nin group had no effect on kidney phospholipid content, but the proportion of PC decreased slightly, while the H-din and the H-tin groups decreased the contents of kidney phospholipid and PC compared to the control group. The N-gin and the N-nin groups decreased the proportion of 20:4 n-6 in PC, although the proportion of 18: 2 n-6 had no significant effect. Thus, the desaturation index (20:4 n-6 + 20:3 n-6/18:2 n-6) decreased from 4.5 (control group) to 2.3 (N-nin group) and 2.6 (N-gin group). The H-din and the H-tin groups had no significant effect on fatty acid composition of PC. In SPM fraction, the proportion of nervonic acid (24:1) decreased in all flavanone groups, suggesting a reduction of delta 9 desaturase and/or elongation from oleic acid (18 :1) by the flavanones. The proportion of lignoceric acid (24:0), however, was not affected by dietary manipulation. The present study conclusively suggests that flavanones can modify the metabolism of choline-containing phospholipid in rat kidney.
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