The incorporation pattern of conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) isomers into the egg yolk of hens inrelation to that in the diet was studied. Silver-ion high-performance liquid chromatography (Ag-HPLC)was used to separate individual CLA isomers. It was found that the isomeric distribution pattern inthe egg yolk lipids was different from that in the dietary fat. Total
cis/
trans isomers accounted for81.2% of total CLA incorporated into the egg yolk, which was in contrast to the value of 92.0% oftotal CLA in the diet. Total
cis/
cis isomers accounted for 3.8% total CLA in the diet but they were6.6% of the total CLA in the egg yolk lipids. In contrast, total
trans/
trans isomers were 12.2% of thetotal CLA isomers in the egg yolk lipids, whereas they were only 4.2% of total CLA in the diet. Theresults showed that total
trans/
trans-CLA was preferentially incorporated into the egg yolk, whereasthe incorporation of total
cis/
trans-CLA isomers was partially discriminated. Within each group, theincorporation of individual isomers into the egg yolk lipids was also selective.
cis-9,
trans-11/
trans-9,
cis-11 and
cis-10,
trans-12/
trans-10,
cis-12 were the two major isomers in the diet. Ag-HPLC analysisshowed that the former was preferentially transferred into the egg yolk compared with the latter. Itwas observed that supplementation of CLA in the diet of laying hens decreased the concentration ofoleic acid (18:1n-9), arachidonic acid (20:4n-6), and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) but increasedthat of linolenic acid (18:3n-3), stearic acid (18:0), and palmitic acid (16:0) in the egg yolk, suggestingthat CLA may inhibit
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6 and
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9 desaturases.Keywords: Conjugated linoleic acids; egg; hens; phospholipids; triglycerides