RETINAL BIOAVAILABILITY OF SYNTHETIC VERY-LONG-CHAIN POLYUNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS

摘要

The rare non-dietary very-long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLC-PUFAs) uniquely found in retina and a few other tissues play a clinically significant role in retinal degeneration and development, but their physiological and interventional research has been hampered by scarcity of pure VLC-PUFAs. Disclosed herein are methods of making fatty acids, including VLC-PUFAs, and methods of using these fatty acids in, for example, treating eye disorders and supplementing the diet of a female subject who is pregnant, desiring to become pregnant, or lactating. Also disclosed are compositions containing fatty acids and methods of making and using same. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention.