Update on Conjugated Linoleic Acids (cla)

The CLA story began with the discovery by Pariza and co-workers that fat extract from ruminants contained compounds that possessed anticarcinogenic activity. They subsequently identified these compounds as conjugated dienoic isomers of linoleic acid and coined the term conjugated linoleic acid or CLA (see review 1). Over the last decade the published research on the biology of CLA has increased exponentially and many additional health benefits have been identified (Table 1; 2). The range of physiological processes affected by CLA is impressive and raises interesting questions as to mechanisms.