Table 1. Fatty acid (% of total fatty acids) profile averages and standard deviations (sd) of dry blood spot cards (DBS) (n = 6), whole blood (n = 6), plasma (n = 6), and serum (n = 6) samples from managed african savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana)1–6.
| Sample type | DBS | Whole blood | Plasma | Serum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual fatty acid | Average (SD) | Average (SD) | Average (SD) | Average (SD) |
| Lauric acid (12:0) | ND | ND | ND | ND |
| Myristic acid (14:0)7 | 0.74a,x,¶ (0.31) | 1.9y (0.28) | 2.0b (0.46) | 1.7‡ (0.34) |
| Myristoleic acid (14:1) | 0.00 (0.00) | 0.07 (0.04) | 0.02 (0.05) | 0.03 (0.05) |
| Pentadecylic acid (15:0) | 0.00 (0.00) | 0.79 (0.12) | 0.52 (0.15) | 1.01 (0.49) |
| Pentadecanoic acid (15:1) | 0.61a,¶ (0.10) | 0.57∘ (0.19) | 0.26b,§ (0.08) | 0.34‡ (0.19) |
| Palmitic acid (16:0) | 17.8 (1.98) | 25.4 (2.83) | 19.2 (3.04) | 18.9 (1.67) |
| 9-hexadecaenoic acid (16:1w5) | ND | ND | ND | ND |
| Palmitoleic acid (16:1w7) | 3.5 (0.85) | 3.8 (0.92) | 2.9 (1.22) | 3.1 (1.12) |
| Margaric acid (17:0) | ND | ND | ND | ND |
| Heptadecaenoic acid (17:1) | ND | ND | ND | ND |
| Stearic acid (18:0) | 10.1 (0.94) | 11.8 (1.92) | 9.5 (0.84) | 8.9 (1.31) |
| 13-octadecaenoic acid (18:1w5) | ND | ND | ND | ND |
| Vaccenic acid (18:1w7) | ND | ND | ND | ND |
| Oleic acid (18:1w9) | 23.2 (2.46) | 28.4 (2.08) | 18.6 (3.04) | 19.4 (3.76) |
| Linoleic acid (18:2w6) | 18.6 (2.27) | 13.2 (2.56) | 22.5 (3.80) | 22.6 (4.36) |
| γ-linolenic acid (18:3w6) | 0.80 (0.38) | 0.23 (0.10) | 0.89 (0.40) | 0.80 (0.40) |
| α-linolenic acid (18:3w3) | 3.4 (0.47) | 1.8 (0.47) | 3.9 (0.78) | 3.5 (0.68) |
| Stearidonic acid (18:4w3) | 0.32 (0.08) | 0.10 (0.04) | 0.25 (0.13) | 0.22 (0.09) |
| Arachdic acid (20:0) | 0.34 (0.14) | 0.32 (0.08) | 0.14 (0.02) | 0.11 (0.05) |
| Eicosenoic acid (20:1w9) | 0.00 (0.00) | 0.04 (0.04) | 0.00 (0.00) | 0.00 (0.00) |
| Paullinic acid (20:1w7) | 0.99 (0.14) | 0.63 (0.26) | 0.53 (0.33) | 0.36 (0.33) |
| Eicosenoic acid (20:2w6) | 0.29 (0.11) | 0.25 (0.10) | 0.35 (0.11) | 0.36 (0.11) |
| Mead acid (20:3w9) | 0.04 (0.05) | 0.01 (0.02) | 0.05 (0.03) | 0.00 (0.00) |
| h-γ-linolenic acid (20:3w6) | 3.6 (0.48) | 2.2 (0.50) | 3.6 (0.83) | 3.7 (0.75) |
| Arachidonic acid (20:4w6) | 9.0 (1.31) | 4.1 (1.06) | 8.7 (2.38) | 8.8 (2.21) |
| Eicosatrienoic acid (20:3w3) | 0.11 (0.04) | 0.10 (0.02) | 0.15 (0.04) | 0.17 (0.07) |
| Eicosatetraenoic acid (20:4w3) | 0.57 (0.35) | 0.39 (0.17) | 0.93 (0.37) | 0.97 (0.34) |
| Eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5w3) | 2.1 (0.66) | 0.8 (0.31) | 1.9 (0.87) | 1.7 (0.65) |
| Behenic acid (22:0) | 0.67 (0.18) | 0.04 (0.03) | 0.03 (0.04) | 0.01 (0.02) |
| Erucic acid (22:1w9) | 0.11 (0.17) | 0.71 (0.17) | 0.65 (0.08) | 0.74 (0.37) |
| Docosatetraenoic (adrenic) acid (22:4w6) | 0.35 (0.10) | 0.38 (0.20) | 0.35 (0.07) | 0.38 (0.06) |
| DPA (osbond acid) (22:5w6) | 0.09 (0.12) | 0.33 (0.15) | 0.21 (0.14) | 0.15 (0.05) |
| DPA (clupanodonic acid) (22:5w3) | 1.5 (0.39) | 0.7 (0.31) | 1.6 (0.55) | 1.6 (0.50) |
| Lignoceric acid (24:0) | 0.30 (0.08) | 0.09 (0.08) | 0.04 (0.04) | 0.03 (0.02) |
| Docosahexaenoic acid (22:6w3) | 0.36 (0.13) | 0.72 (0.37) | 0.24 (0.10) | 0.22 (0.08) |
| Nervonic acid (24:1) | 0.07 (0.07) | 0.08 (0.08) | 0.02 (0.04) | 0.11 (0.05) |
| Fatty acid groups | Average (SD) | Average (SD) | Average (SD) | Average (SD) |
| Saturates | 30.5 (1.83) | 40.4 (1.45) | 31.4 (3.02) | 30.7 (2.14) |
| Monoenes | 25.0 (2.42) | 30.5 (2.13) | 20.1 (3.29) | 21.0 (4.17) |
| Poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) | 41.0 (3.20) | 25.3 (3.13) | 45.6 (6.70) | 45.2 (6.73) |
| Highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) | 17.6 (2.74) | 9.7 (2.21) | 17.8 (4.72) | 17.7 (3.99) |
| Total w3 fatty acids | 8.3 (1.00) | 4.5 (0.81) | 9.0 (1.51) | 8.4 (0.91) |
| Total w6 fatty acid | 32.7 (2.83) | 20.7 (2.84) | 36.6 (5.98) | 36.8 (6.20) |
| Total w9 fatty acids | 23.4 (2.41) | 29.3 (2.27) | 19.3 (3.08) | 20.3 (3.98) |
| w6/w3 fatty acid ratio | 4.0 (0.51) | 4.7 (0.90) | 4.1 (0.74) | 4.4 (0.64) |
| Omega 3 HUFA | 25.6 (3.73) | 26.8 (4.27) | 26.8 (4.67) | 25.9 (3.76) |
| Omega 6 HUFA | 74.4 (3.73) | 73.2 (4.27) | 73.2 (4.67) | 74.2 (3.76) |
Notes.
Fatty acids that were not in high enough concentration to be quantified included: lauric acid (12:0), 9-hexadecenoic acid (16:1w5), margaric acid (17:0), heptadecenoic acid (17:1), vaccenic acid (18:1w7), and 13-octadecenoic acid (18:1w5).
Differing superscripts (a,b) in averages columns are significantly different at (α = 0.05, U-statistic = 5) for DBS compared to plasma.
Differing superscripts (x,y) in averages columns are significantly different at (α = 0.05, U-statistic = 5) for DBS compared to whole blood.
Differing superscripts (¶,‡) in averages columns are significantly different at (α = 0.05, U-statistic = 5) for DBS compared to serum.
Differing superscripts (¶, ∘) in averages columns are significantly different at (α = 0.05, U-statistic = 5) for plasma compared to whole blood.
Differing superscripts (¥,£) in averages columns are significantly different at (α = 0.05, U-statistic = 5) for serum compared to whole blood.
Outlier from DBS samples was removed for mean and SD calculations thus DBS n = 5 (U-statistic = 3).