gamma-linolenic-acid and Metabolic-Diseases

The etiology of diet-related disorders is closely associated with dietary factors. A special role is attributed to intake of fat and fatty acid profile, both quantitative and qualitative. For prevention and treatment of the abovementioned diseases a proper supply of unsaturated fatty acids plays a significant role, because of their particular importance to health. γ-Linolenic acid (GLA), with three double bonds in the carbon chain, also known as all-cis 6,9,12-octadecatrienoic acid, belongs to the n-6 family of fatty acids. It plays biologically important functions in the human body, such as being a substrate for eicosanoids synthesis, involvement in the transport and oxidation of cholesterol, and being one of the components of lipid membrane. Its inadequate dietary intake or impaired formation is the cause of many inflammatory and degenerative diseases. A rich source of this fatty acid is vegetable oils, until recently used mainly in folk medicine. Nowadays, studies conducted both in animal models and in humans suggest its health-promoting properties in the prevention and treatment of atopic dermatitis, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers and rheumatoid arthritis.

Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Arthritis, Rheumatoid; Cardiovascular Diseases; Dermatitis, Atopic; Dry Eye Syndromes; gamma-Linolenic Acid; Humans; Metabolic Diseases; Neoplasms

Recent studies on the effects of the essential fatty acid metabolic intermediate, gamma-linolenic acid, on the growth of cancer cells in culture and on induced mammary cancer tumours in rats, strongly suggest that the metabolic defect in the cancer cells studied is simply a metabolic block involving the enzyme delta-6-desaturase. The latter enzyme is responsible for the conversion of linoleic acid to gamma-linolenic acid. These observations would suggest that cancer in the cell lines studied could be a relatively simple metabolic disease.

Topics: 8,11,14-Eicosatrienoic Acid; Alprostadil; Animals; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Cell Line; Cells, Cultured; Esophageal Neoplasms; Fatty Acid Desaturases; gamma-Linolenic Acid; Humans; Linolenic Acids; Liver Neoplasms; Melanoma; Metabolic Diseases; Mice; Neoplasms; Prostaglandins E; Scurvy