BIOL 321 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Essential Fatty Acid, Prostaglandin E1, Flax
Document Summary
Most fatty acids are non-essential, meaning the body can produce them as needed, generally from other fatty acids and always by expending energy to do so. However, in humans at least two fatty acids are essential and must be included in the diet. An appropriate balance of essential fatty acids - omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids - seems also important for health, though definitive experimental demonstration has been elusive. Both of these omega long- chain polyunsaturated fatty acids aresubstrates for a class of eicosanoids known as prostaglandins, which have roles throughout the human body. The omega-6 dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (dgla) serves as a building block for series 1 prostaglandins (e. g. anti-inflammatory pge1), whereas arachidonic acid (aa) serves as a building block for series 2 prostaglandins (e. g. pro-inflammatory pge 2). Both dgla and aa can be made from the omega-6 linoleic acid (la) in the human body, or can be taken in directly through food.
