Introduction & Objective: The link between dietary fat and coronary heart disease has attracted much attention since the effect of long?chain fatty acids (LCFA) on gene transcription has been established, which in part, these effects can be explained by the regulation of gene transcription. In this study, the P19CL6 cardiac cell?line was targeted for the investigation of (i) the effects of long?chain fatty acids (LCFA) and clofibrate on mRNA levels of specific lipid metabolism?related genes, such as heart?type fatty acid?binding protein (H?FABP) and peroxisome proliferator?activated receptors (PPARa,b,g) in the P19CL6 cell?line, and (ii) to determine the effects of LCFAs and clofibrate on global transcriptome levels, using cDNA microarray analysis.

Materials & Methods: After culturing P19CL6 cells with LCFAs or clofibrate, the total?RNA was extracted and expression levels of H-FABP, PPARa, PPARb, and PPARg genes were determined by RT?PCR. In addition, microarray analysis was used to compare global transcriptome profiles in P19CL6 cells cultured with different LCFAs or clofibrate.

Results: LCFAs significantly increased the abundance of PPARa and PPARg. Moreover, microarray analysis showed the effects of linoleic and a?linolenic acids and clofibrate were similar but differed from those of palmitic and oleic acids..

Conclusion: These findings show cellular responses to polyunsaturated fatty acids differ from those observed with saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids.