Fatty Acid

2022-02-02 links: reference:

Fatty Acid #

Most are even-chained in carbon atoms; those that aren’t are known as odd-chained (OCFA).

Short-chain: <6 - Medium-chain: 6-12 - Long-chain: 13-21 - Very-long-chain: 22+ The last carbon in a fatty acid is denoted as ω, thus the ‘ω-n’ nomenclature = ‘final carbon minus closest double bond.’ This is ALA, an omega-3, and as you can see the first double bond is at 3 when you count from the methyl group.
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- PUFAs are preferentially burned over saturated fat when mixed in meal intake.
- Fatty acid transport: difficult or easy?
  - Inverse relationship between number of double bonds, and positive relationship between chain length - and free energy required for activation of transporters.
    - This is regardless of being due to dietary i.e. from chylomicrons, or free triglycerides i.e. mobilization from adipose stores.
    - This is basically related to why studies on overfeeding of SFA vs PUFA show the former as gaining less fat ( Overfeeding Polyunsaturated and Saturated Fat Causes Distinct Effects on Liver and Visceral Fat Accumulation in Humans)