Disease relevance of alpha-Linolenic acid

• The potential roles of carcinogens formed in cooking animal fat and of alpha-linolenic acid in the progression of prostate cancer need to be explored [1].
• Diets for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease: can linolenic acid substitute for oily fish [2]?
• Antibacterial activity of hydrolysed linseed oil and linolenic acid against methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus [3].
• We show that the polyunsaturated fatty acid linolenic acid prevents neuronal death in an animal model of transient global ischemia even when administered after the insult [4].
• For E. coli strain K 1059 (an unsaturated fatty acid auxotroph) supplemented with linolenic acid, the segregation leads to large areas of membrane surfaces having distinctly different morphological characteristics (smooth compared with strongly particulated fracture faces, as visualized by freeze fracture electron microscopy) [5].

Psychiatry related information on alpha-Linolenic acid

• The effects of dietary alpha-linolenic acid deficiency were studied in a model of learning, the Morris water maze, and on the following effects of morphine: increase in locomotor activity, modifications of rectal temperature and analgesia [6].
• After optimization, the standard in vitro conditions for the measurement of delta6-desaturase activity were as follows: 60 micromol x L(-1) alpha-linolenic acid (C18:3n-3), reaction time of 20 min and protein content of 0.4 mg [7].
• Dietary deprivation of linolenic acid (LNA) during the perinatal life on the other hand, resulted in losses of DHA from cerebral PLs [M. Schiefermeier, E. Yavin, n-3 deficient and DHA-enriched diets during critical periods of the developing prenatal rat brain, J. Lipid Res. 43 (2002) 124-131] [8].

High impact information on alpha-Linolenic acid

• As arachidonic acid may not be found in Drosophila, we suggest that another polyunsaturated fatty acid, such as linolenic acid, may be a messenger of excitation in Drosophila photoreceptors [9].
• Linolenic acid is an important fatty-acid constituent of membranes in most plant species and its intracellular levels increase in response to certain signals [10].
• The association of alpha-linolenic acid levels with prostate cancer was greater among men with low linoleic acid and reduced meat intake [11].
• In the experiment with BALB/c mice, tumor growth was stimulated by 1% dietary linoleic acid but not by 1% linolenic acid when compared with that observed with 1% oleic acid [12].
• In vitro, 1 mM cholesterol reduced monomer activity of 6 mM oleic acid to 72.3 +/- 0.9% of control and that of linolenic acid to 81.1 +/- 1.7% of control [13].

Chemical compound and disease context of alpha-Linolenic acid

• In primary rat hepatocytes and Fa-32 hepatoma cells C-ACS mRNA increased after treatment with fenofibric acid, alpha-bromopalmitate, tetradecylthioacetic acid, or alpha-linolenic acid [14].
• RESULTS: A higher concentration of combined DHA and EPA was associated with a lower risk of fatal ischemic heart disease, and a higher concentration of alpha-linolenic acid with a tendency to lower risk, after adjustment for risk factors [odds ratio: 0.32 (95% CI: 0.13, 0.78; P = 0.01) and 0.52 (0.24, 1.15; P = 0.1), respectively] [15].
• However, the mutants showed enhanced sensitivity to linoleic or linolenic acid treatments in combination with HL, consistent with tocopherols playing a crucial role in protecting Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 cells from lipid peroxidation [16].
• Familial adenomatous polyposis patients have high levels of arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid and low levels of linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid in serum phospholipids [17].
• Docosahexaenoic acid membrane content and mRNA expression of acyl-CoA oxidase and of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-delta are modulated in Y79 retinoblastoma cells differently by low and high doses of alpha-linolenic acid [18].

Biological context of alpha-Linolenic acid

• Jasmonic acid, synthesized from linolenic acid (the octadecanoid pathway), has been proposed to be part of a signal transduction pathway that mediates the induction of defensive genes in plants in response to oligouronide and polypeptide signals generated by insect and pathogen attacks [19].
• Rhesus monkeys that were maintained on a diet containing low, yet adequate, amounts of vitamins C and E and in which linoleate and linolenate represented 1.4% and 0.08% of the total caloric intake, respectively, developed liver fibrosis after consuming alcohol (mean, 2.6 g kg(-1) d[-1]) over a period of 3 years [20].
• Linolenic acid emulsions peroxidized by XO-derived reactive species showed similar dose-dependent regulation of lipid peroxidation by .NO [21].
• The enzyme transformed 9- and 13-hydroperoxides of linoleic and linolenic acid to alpha-ketol, gamma-ketol, and cyclopentenone compounds that arise from spontaneous hydrolysis of unstable allene oxides, indicating that the enzyme is an AOS [22].
• On the other hand, the Omega-3 polyunsaturated FA linolenate neither induced insulin resistance nor promoted nuclear localization of NFkappaB [23].

Anatomical context of alpha-Linolenic acid

• The increasing levels of Menhaden oil in the diet significantly increased the omega-3 fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid and decreased the omega-6 fatty acids such as linoleic acid, linolenic acid, and arachidonic acid in microsomal fractions from colonic mucosa and tumors [24].
• JA is synthesized from linolenic acid via an enzymatic pathway that initiates in the plastid and terminates in peroxisomes [25].
• Rats were fed an alpha-linolenic acid-rich (perilla oil) diet or a linoleic acid-rich (safflower oil) diet for 6 wk, and polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) were elicited by peritoneal injection of casein [26].
• Here we show that this protein inhibits heme-dependent peroxidation of both linolenic acid liposomes and lipophorin, the main lipoprotein of insect hemolymph [27].
• All polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids were well incorporated into the adipose tissue, even linolenic acid [28].

Associations of alpha-Linolenic acid with other chemical compounds

• The defects were rescued by the exogenous application of jasmonic acid (JA) or linolenic acid, which is consistent with the reduced accumulation of JA in the dad1 flower buds [29].
• Linoleic acid and linolenic acid both inhibited SRS formation, whereas indomethacin (a cyclooxygenase inhibitor) had no effect [30].
• Here we show that the addition of alpha-linolenic acid or EPA to arterial blood inhibits tumor FA uptake, including LA, and the subsequent conversion of LA to the mitogen 13-hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid (13-HODE) in vivo and during perfusion in situ [31].
• DMQ(6) failed to protect cells against oxidative stress generated by H(2)O(2) or linolenic acid [32].
• Biosynthesis of 12-oxophytodienoic acid from alpha-linolenic acid occurs in plastids, mainly in chloroplasts, and is thought to start with free linolenic acid liberated from membrane lipids by lipase action [33].

Gene context of alpha-Linolenic acid

• An S. cerevisiae gpx1 Delta/gpx2 Delta/gpx3 Delta mutant was defective for growth in medium supplemented with the oxidation-sensitive polyunsaturated fatty acid linolenate (18:3) [34].
• Genetic analyses using plasmids carrying the genes, PHO5 and PHO3, that code for repressible APase and constitutive APase, respectively, showed that linolenic acid induced the formation of repressible APase [35].
• It is concluded that, with the exception of IL-6 production, a modest increase in intake of either ALNA or EPA+DHA does not influence the functional activity of mononuclear cells [36].
• Moreover, conjugated linolenic acid from bitter gourd at lower concentrations that was without effects by itself synergistically stimulated TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis [37].
• ERK kinase inhibitors significantly reduced the anti-apoptotic effects of linolenic acid [38].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of alpha-Linolenic acid

• Recombinant channels are activated rapidly in both whole-cell recordings and inside-out patches, with a half-maximal effector concentration for linolenic acid of approximately 10 microM [9].
• A control group of mothers and infants received similar diets but supplying ample linolenic acid [39].
• An alpha-linolenic acid-rich Mediterranean diet seems to be more efficient than presently used diets in the secondary prevention of coronary events and death [40].
• Cell fractionation studies with 14C labelled linolenic acid showed that the linolenic acid was associated with the membrane fraction [41].
• Effect of alpha-linolenic acid supplementation during pregnancy on maternal and neonatal polyunsaturated fatty acid status and pregnancy outcome [42].

References