Recent studies on interactions between n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in brain and other tissues.
Recent literature provides a basis for understanding the behavioral, functional, and structural consequences of nutritional deprivation or disease-related abnormalities of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The literature suggests that these effects are mediated through competition between n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids at certain enzymatic steps, particularly those involving polyunsaturated fatty acid elongation and desaturation. One critical enzymatic site is a delta6-desaturase. On the other hand, an in-vivo method in rats, applied following chronic n-3 nutritional deprivation or chronic administration of lithium, indicates that the cycles of de-esterification/re-esterification of docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) and arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) within brain phospholipids operate independently of each other, and thus that the enzymes regulating each of these cycles are not likely sites of n-3/n-6 competition.
Contreras
Miguel A
MA
Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, USA.
Rapoport
Stanley I
SI
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D004951:Esterification; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D023421:Models, Animal
D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases