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Linolenic acid deficiency
Author(s) -
Tinoco J.,
Babcock R.,
Hincenbergs I.,
Medwadowski B.,
Miljanich P.,
Williams M. A.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
lipids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.601
H-Index - 120
eISSN - 1558-9307
pISSN - 0024-4201
DOI - 10.1007/bf02533868
Subject(s) - biology , fatty acid , biochemistry , clinical chemistry , linolenic acid , linoleic acid
Linolenic acid deficiency has not been demonstrated clearly in warm blooded animals, yet circumstantial evidence suggests that n−3 fatty acids may have functions in these animals. The fact that several species of fish definitely require dietary n−3 fatty acids indicates that n−3 fatty acids have important and specific functions in these animals and suggests that such functions may also be present in warm blooded animals. It is also true that n−3 fatty acid distribution in tissues of birds and mammals appears to be under strict metabolic control, and that this complex metabolic control mechanism apparently has survived evolutionary pressure for a very long time. So far, attempts to produce linolenic acid deficiency in mammals have not revealed an absolute requirement for n−3 fatty acids. If functions for n−3 fatty acids do exist in warm blooded animals, it seems probable that they may be located in the cerebral cortex or in the retina, because these tissues normally contain high concentrations of n−3 fatty acids.