The effect of different levels of dietary α-linolenic and other fatty acids on mammary gland ductular cell proliferation in female Swiss Webster mice

In previous work we have shown that changing the fatty acid composition of a constant amount of fat in a modified AIN-76A diet affected the level of ductular cell proliferation in the mammary glands of young virgin female Swiss Webster mice. In particular, linoleic acid concentrations of 5–10% of the total fat in the diet led to variable but appreciably higher levels of proliferation than did higher levels of linoleic acid. In this report it is shown that feeding low levels of the total fat as α-linolenic acid (0–5%) resulted in a similar effect. In addition the effects of other fats including menhaden oil, were further investigated.