Search

Introduction: The correlation between serum polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA), Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA), Arachidonic Acid (AA) and Dihomogammalinolenic Acid (DHLA) levels and clinical outcomes of cardiovascular disease are previously reported. The aim was to investigate serum PUFAs including AA levels to clinical outcome in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) patients. Method: From Nov 2012 to Nov 2019, ICH patients within 24 hours from the onset were enrolled. All patients underwent radiological investigations and laboratory examinations including measurement of serum PUFAs levels on admission. We divided patients into two groups, favorable outcome group (mRS at 3 months 0-3) and poor outcome group (mRS at 3 months 4-6). We compared baseline variables including serum PUFAs levels between two groups. Result: We enrolled 142patients (87 male, median age 60 years old, median NIHSS score 8). Of them, 113 patients (80%) were favorable outcome group and 29 patients (20%) were poor outcome group. Higher NIHSS score and larger size of hematoma on admission were found in poor outcome group (median NIHSS score 6 of favorable outcome vs. 14 of poor outcome, p Conclusion: Serum AA levels may play an important role in predicting the outcome in ICH.

Aim Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) take part in various biological events linked to the pathogenesis of venous thromboembolism (VTE), including inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and hypercoagulability. Several studies have demonstrated the association between PUFAs and the occurrence of VTE. However, the role of PUFAs in the pathogenesis of VTE remains unclear. Methods We enrolled 45 patients with acute VTE and 37 age-, gender-, and body mass index-matched healthy volunteers to examine their PUFA levels. Serum omega 3 (eicosapentaenoic acid: EPA and docosahexaenoic acid: DHA) and omega 6 (dihomogammalinolenic acid: DGLA and arachidonic acid: AA) fatty acids levels were measured within 24 h of admission. Results Patients with VTE showed significantly higher AA and lower EPA levels, and lower EPA/AA ratios than the controls. Multivariate analysis revealed that AA was an independent marker for VTE. In addition, we divided the patients based on their median age (58 years old). The younger patients with VTE showed significantly lower EPA/AA levels than their age-matched controls, whereas older patients with VTE showed a significantly higher AA/DGLA levels than the older controls. Conclusions High serum AA levels and low EPA levels are associated with the development of acute VTE, suggesting that the imbalance of PUFAs may be a potential therapeutic target for preventing acute VTE.

Other than in children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the connection between ADHD and lipids has not been sufficiently investigated so far in adults. Blood serum lipoproteins and fatty acids (FA) composition were measured and analyzed by colorimetry and gaschromatography in eight male and seven female adults diagnosed with ADHD as well as in 15 age- and gender-matched healthy control subjects. In ADHD patients, polyunsaturated FAs [docosahexaenoic, arachidonic and dihomogammalinolenic acid (p = 0.048; 0.003; 0.012)] showed lower concentrations, while monounsaturated acids (palmitoleic and oleic acid) as well as total and LDL cholesterol showed higher concentrations (p = 0.011; 0.005). ADHD scores positively correlated with palmitoleic (R = −0.56; p = 0.032), stearic (R = 0.53; p = 0.044), eicosapentaenoic (R = 0.62; p = 0.014), docosahexaenoic (R = 0.51; p = 0.050), gammalinolenic (R = 0.62; p = 0.018) and alphalinolenic acid (R = 0.56; p = 0.031) concentration. Even though the total and LDL cholesterol concentrations in blood serum were significantly higher among the ADHD patients than in controls, none of the ADHD symptom scores were significantly associated with any of the lipoproteine measures. We could demonstrate that a lack of polyunsaturated FAs in blood serum of subjects with ADHD persists into adulthood. Furthermore, we could show that adult ADHD symptomatology positively correlates with elevated levels of saturated stearic and monounsaturated FAs.

A high content (12.8–17.7% of total fatty acids) of an eicosatrienoic acid was found in the brown alga, Sargassum pallidum . The chemical structure of the acid as 8,11,14-eicosatrienoic (dihomo-g-linolenic) acid was confirmed by physicochemical methods.

Prostaglandins (PG) E1 and E2 are important regulators of biologic functions, and can express different biological effects. In thin layer chromatography (TLC) systems which separate these compounds, comigration of other major eicosanoids is a problem. This paper describes a TLC system using a mobile phase of chloroform/methanol/acetic acid/H2O (90:7.5:5:0.8) that separates PGE1 and PGE2, as well as other major eicosanoids, including dihomogammalinolenic acid (DHLA), the immediate fatty acid precursor of PGE1.

Prostaglandins have hyperthermic as well as hypothermic effects, and lithium, which inhibits the conversion of dihomogammalinolenic acid to PGE1, can produce hyperthermia. Electroconvulsive shock raises prostaglandin F in rat cerebral cortex and in the case presented here lithium normalized temperature in a patient who became hypothermic after she accidentally received an electric shock.

Twenty-four female and 4 male patients, all fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria for primary Sjogren's syndrome (primary SS), were treated for 8 weeks with evening primrose oil (Efamol). Efamol is a seed oil which consists primarily of the n-6 essential fatty acids (EFA): cis-linoleic acid and gammalinolenic acid (GLA). The investigation was carried out as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial in order to determine whether long-term treatment of patients with primary SS with Efamol would improve the ocular and oral clinical status, and whether the levels of EFA in plasma and erythrocytes increase during Efamol treatment. The objective ocular status, evaluated by a combined ocular score, including the results from Schirmer-I test, break-up time and van Bijsterveld score, improved significantly during Efamol treatment when compared with Efamol start-values (p less than 0.05), but not when compared with placebo values (p less than 0.2). The GLA metabolite and prostaglandin-E1 (PGE1) precursor dihomogammalinolenic acid (20: 3n6, DGLA) increased both in plasma (p less than 0.001) and in erythrocytes (p less than 0.001) during treatment with Efamol. No correlations between objective ocular and oral status and DGLA values in plasma or erythrocytes were found.

The two main dietary essential fatty acids (EFAs) are linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). These two parent fatty acids are metabolized within the body to whar are sometimes called the derived EFAs. The derived EFAs include gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), dihomogammalinolenic acid (DGLA) and arachidonic acid of the n−6 series from linoleic acid, and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) of the n−3 series from ALA. The traditional teaching is that there is no dietary requirement for the derived EFAs. It is assumed that all the amounts of the derived EFAs that are needed can be formed within the body from linoleic acid and ALA.

The three major families of unsaturated fatty acids are those of oleic acid (n-9), linoleic acid (n-6) and linolenic acid (n-3). Linoleic and linolenic acid, the 18-carbon essential fatty acids obtained from the diet, are converted through desaturation and elongation steps to the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The 20-carbon PUFAs, dihomogammalinolenic acid (DHGLA 20:3 n-6), arachidonic acid (AA 20:4 n-6) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA 20:5 n-3), derived from linolenic acid, are the precursors of the prostaglandin series 1,2 and 3, respectively.