Long‐chain (LC)‐PUFAs act as precursors for the special class of retinal lipids known as very‐long‐chain (VLC)‐PUFAs and the effect of diabetes on retinal VLC‐PUFA levels is unexplored. In order to understand the supplemental effect of omega‐3 (n‐3) LC‐PUFAs on decreasing levels of VLC‐PUFAs due to diabetes, Nile rats, which develop diabetes spontaneously, and Akita mouse, a genetic diabetes model, are chosen.
Human retinal punches from donors are collected from an eye bank; lipids are extracted and analyzed to study the alterations in VLC‐PUFAs and their omega‐3/omega‐6 (n‐3/n‐6) ratios. Nile rats are fed a high‐fat diet to induce hyperglycemia, and then an n‐3 PUFA‐rich diet is fed to the experimental group for 2 months. Diabetic male Akita mice and WT mice are fed with 5% fish‐oil mixed in with their chow for 2 months to observe the effect of n‐3 PUFAs. Results indicate that VLC‐PUFA levels are lower in human diabetic and retinopathic retinal punches compared to age‐matched controls. With supplementation of n‐3 PUFAs, there is a significant increase in n‐3/n‐6 VLC‐PUFA ratios in both animal models compared to diabetic controls.
Dietary supplementation with n‐3 LC‐PUFAs helps to prevent progression of diabetes and associated retinopathy.