Dietary n-3 and n-6 fatty acids compete for accumulation in tissues as 20- and 22-carbon highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA)

摘要

The vitamin-like essential fatty acids were conceived in 1929 (as I also was). Over the years, knowledge of 18-carbon omega-3 (n-3) and omega-6 (n-6) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) grew to include details of their metabolism to 20- and 22-carbon highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) and selective accumulation of HUFA at the 2-position of membrane phospholipids. HUFA are released when various stimuli activate cellular phospholipases, and the released HUFA form potent eicosanoid hormones that havereceptors on nearly every cell in the human body. Thus, these vitamin-like nutrients and their derived hormones affect a wide range of physiological and pathological events.