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This review deals with the most recent findings on the antimalarial, antimycobacterial, and antifungal properties of fatty acids, with particular emphasis on novel marine fatty acids. The first section deals with the most recent and some background literature on what has been the latest developments with respect to fatty acids as antimalarial agents and the importance of enzyme inhibition, in particular the inhibition of the enoyl-ACP reductase (FabI) of Plasmodium falciparum, the principal agent responsible for malaria. This section of the review also emphasizes the latest antimalarial research with the very long-chain Delta5,9 fatty acids from sponges. The second section of the review deals with the recent literature on the antimycobacterial activity of fatty acids and the importance of enzyme inhibition, in particular the inhibition of the enoyl-ACP reductase (InhA) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis for antimycobacterial activity. The inhibitory activities of the Delta5,9 fatty acids against InhA as well as that of the alpha-methoxylated fatty acids are also discussed. The importance of Delta5,9 fatty acids as topoisomerase I inhibitors and its connection to cancer is also reviewed. The last part of the review, the antifungal section, also emphasizes the most recent research with antifungal fatty acids and the importance of enzyme inhibition, in particular N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) inhibition, for antifungal activity. This last section of the review emphasizes the latest research with the alpha-methoxylated fatty acids but the importance of acetylenic fatty acids is also considered.

Methoxylated lipids have been reviewed emphasizing the alkylglycerol ethers and fatty acids bearing the methoxy group in the alkyl chain. The literature on methoxylated lipids and their derivatives has been divided into four main groups, namely 2-methoxylated alkyl glycerols, omega-methoxylated fatty acids, mid-chain methoxylated fatty acids, and alpha-methoxylated fatty acids. The natural occurrence, biological activity, and synthesis of this interesting group of lipids are discussed. Most of these compounds have been isolated from either bacterial or marine sources, but others are mainly of synthetic origin. Among the interesting biological activities displayed by these compounds the most important are antibacterial, antifungal, antitumor, and antiviral.

The phospholipid fatty acid composition of the Caribbean gorgonians Pseudopterogorgia acerosa (Pallas), Pseudopterogorgia americana (Gmelin), Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata (Verrill) and Pseudopterogorgia rigida (Bielschowsky) is described for the first time. The main phospholipids identified were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylserine. All four gorgonians presented a similar phospholipid fatty acid composition. The main fatty acids were 16:0, 18:3(n-6), 18:4(n-3), 20:4(n-6), 22:6(n-3), 24:5(n-6) and 24:6(n-3). In all of the studied Pseudopterogorgia gorgonians, high amounts of the tetracosapolyenoic fatty acids 24:5(n-6) and 24:6(n-3) were identified. In the four gorgonians studied, n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids predominated. These results suggest that the occurrence of tetracosapolyenoic fatty acids in the Gorgoniidae is more general than previously recognized.