Changes in behavior and fatty acid composition induced by long-term reduction in murine Δ6-desaturation activity

Among the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) that cannot produced ω6 fatty acid linoleic acid (LA) and ω3 fatty acid α-linolenic acid (ALA) play an important role in biological regulation [1,2]. However, ω-6 and ω-3 fatty acids compete with each other because they share a synthetic pathway involving the same desaturation and chain elongation enzymes. A study using Δ6 desaturase (D6D) null mice that were fed artificial milk containing LA and ALA showed an obvious decrease in ARA, EPA, and DHA levels, and impaired growth and development.

Source: Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids - February 20, 2020 Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Akiko Harauma, Toshiaki Sueyasu, Hisanori Tokuda, Hidemi Yasuda, Yukino Hoshi, Yoshihisa Kaneda, Tomohiro Rogi, Hiroshi Shibata, Manabu T. Nakamura, Toru Moriguchi Tags: Original research article Source Type: research