Ricinoleic acid (RA), a hydroxyl fatty acid, is suitable for medical and industrial uses and is produced in high-oil-accumulating organisms such as castor bean and the ergot fungus Claviceps. We report here the efficient production of RA in a transgenic diatom Chaetoceros gracilis expressing the fatty acid hydroxylase gene (CpFAH) from Claviceps purpurea. In transgenic C. gracilis, RA content i...

BACKGROUND Fatty acids are substantial components of lipids and cell membranes in the form of phospholipids. This review consists of two parts. The present part aims at describing fatty acid classification, dietary sources and biological functions. The second part will focus on fatty acid physiological roles and applications in human health and disease. RESULTS In humans, not all fatty acids ...

Atherosclerosis is a major complication of diabetes, yet the reason for this remains obscure. Mechanisms of plaque formation are discussed and, in particular, metabolic alterations in the postprandial phase in diabetes are examined. A major metabolic effect of insulin deficiency is a failure to suppress non-esterified fatty acids. The importance of non-esterified fatty acids in the formation of...

The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of trans-10, cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in adipose tissue explant cultures of growing pigs on the following responses: lipogenesis (measured as rate of (14)C-labeled glucose incorporation over a subsequent 2-h incubation in the presence or absence of insulin), lipolysis (release of non-esterified fatty acid over a 2-h in...

The liver plays a central role in the metabolism of cholesterol absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. Most of this cholesterol is transported as esterified cholesterol in chylomicrons (2, 3)) by way of intestinal lymph. Recent experiments in this laboratory have demonstrated that soon after the intravenous injection into rats of chylomicrons containing labeled cholesterol esters, almost 90%...

A hitherto unreported esterified form of steryl glucoside has been isolated from potato tuber lipids and soybean phosphatides. It is composed of sterol, glucose, and fatty acid in the molar ratio 1 : 1 : 1. Four components of the sterol moiety have been detected ; they include &sitosterol and stigmasterol (identified by gas-liquid chromatography). Fatty acids are palmitic, stearic, oleic, linol...

The effects of Greyhound racing on plasma insulin, glucagon and non-esterified fatty acid have not been extensively studied. We sought to examine the effects of exercise in 19 greyhounds trialed over 400 meters on serum biochemistry, osmolality, nonessential fatty acids, and the major glucoregulatory hormones insulin and glucagon, before and after racing. Due to the non-traditional dietary patt...

I . Three sheep, each of which was fitted with a rumen cannula and with two pairs of reentrant cannulas in different parts of the small intestine, were used in this study. They were fed on dried grass cubes or hay plus linseed meal and oats: an aqueous solution of polyethylene glycol (PEG) was infused continuously into the rumen. 2. Total lipids were extracted from samples of the chyme entering...