title: Essential fatty acid status in teenage girls with eating disorders and weight loss.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the relationship between essential fatty acids (FA) and weight changes in adolescent girls with eating disorders (ED).
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood samples were obtained from 220 girls with ED and 39 healthy controls. The girls with ED were 15.3 ± 1.5 years of age and weighed 49.8 ± 8.7 kg (BMI 18.3 ± 2.8 kg/m(2)) after a weight loss of 6.8 ± 6.4 kg. FA were analysed in plasma phospholipids (PPL) and erythrocyte membranes (ERY).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The proportions of saturated and monounsaturated FA were increased during weight loss, while linoleic acid (18:2ω6) was decreased. The proportions of eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) (20:5ω3) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA) (22:6ω3) in PPL and ERY did not differ from controls. The activity of stearoyl-CoA-desaturase was increased as evidenced by an increased product/precursor ratio and correlated with the rate of weight loss. The activities of delta-6-desaturase and delta-5-desaturase did not differ from controls. The rate of weight loss was inversely correlated with delta-6-desaturase and directly correlated with delta-5-desaturase.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The FA profile indicates low-fat intake, fat mobilization from stores and an increased conversion of essential FA at the delta-5-desaturase step during weight loss in adolescent girls with ED. Normal levels of EPA and DHA were maintained.
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Sweden. ingemar.swenne@akademiska.se
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Swenne
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rosling
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tengblad
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vessby
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001835:Body Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D000090943:Delta-5 Fatty Acid Desaturase; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids / Q000097:blood; D004537:Eicosanoic Acids / Q000097:blood; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000737:chemistry; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000097:blood; D005228:Fatty Acids, Essential / Q000097:blood*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000737:chemistry; D015431:Weight Loss
chemical_list: D000090943:Delta-5 Fatty Acid Desaturase; D004537:Eicosanoic Acids; D005228:Fatty Acids, Essential; D010743:Phospholipids; D004281:Docosahexaenoic Acids; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases