When orally administered to rats, ¹⁴C-labelled ethyl eicosapentaenoate (¹⁴C-EPA-E) was hydrolyzed and, in the lymph, incorporated mainly into triglycerides (TG) in chylomicrons. In plasma and other tissues, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and its metabolites, such as docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), were detected in TG and phospholipid fractions. In plasma, EPA and its metabolites were found to be integrated into lipoproteins. Tissue distribution of these metabolites showed characteristic patterns from one tissue to another, as did their compositional distribution in lipids. EPA, DPA and DHA were found to be metabolized via β-oxidation in in vitro experiments with mitochondrial fraction.