Abstract:The effects of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA) on the proliferation and differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes were investigated by MTS assay, cell morphology analysis and spectrometric method of induction differentiation combined with oil red O staining. MTS results showed that ALA and LA significantly inhibited proliferation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes in a dose- and time-dependent manner within a certain concentration range, and ALA inhibited proliferation more strongly than LA. Cell morphology analysis showed that ALA and LA were cytotoxic to 3T3-L1 preadipocytes because of high concentration of the fatty acids. The inverted electron microscope observing and oil red staining and detection results showed that ALA, LA and ALA/LA mixed fatty acid (1:1, n/n) significantly inhibited differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes in a dose-dependent manner in the range of 12.5~200 μmol/L, and ALA inhibited differentiation more efficiently than LA, and the ALA/LA mixed fatty acid (1:1, n/n) showed the strongest inhibition effect on differentiation at the same concentration above 100 μmol/L. When the concentration was 200 μmol/L, the ALA/LA mixed fatty acid (1:1, n/n) showed slightly lower inhibition effect on the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes than the ALA/LA mixed fatty acid (1:2, n/n) and the ALA/LA mixed fatty acid (1:4, n/n).
