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Arachidonic acid metabolism in health and disease: An introduction

ZHANG Xiao-Yan¹, ZHU Yi², GUAN You-Fei^3,*

¹Health Science Center, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China；²Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China；³dvanced Institute for Medical Sciences, Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116044, China

Abstract

Fatty acids play an essential role in maintaining life and health. Depending on how many carbon atoms contain, fatty acids can be divided into short chains (including 2~4 carbon atoms), medium chains (including 6~12 carbon atoms), long chains (containing 14 and more carbon atoms) fatty acids; Depending on the saturation degree, fatty acids can also be divided into saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids (polyunsaturated fatty acids, PUFA); Depending on the position of the first unsaturated bond from the methyl end of the carbon chain, PUFA can also be further divided into ω-3 PUFA (starting from the methyl end of fatty acids, the ω end, The first unsaturated double bond appears between the third and fourth carbon atoms) and ω-6 PUFA. Among them, arachidonic acid (AA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) represent ω-6 and ω-3 PUFA, respectively. They have extensive and important biological functions and are closely related to life, health and disease occurrence and treatment.

Received: 　　Accepted:

Corresponding author: 管又飞　　E-mail: guanyf@dmu.edu.cn

DOI: 10.13294/j.aps.2021.0065

Citing This Article：

ZHANG Xiao-Yan, ZHU Yi, GUAN You-Fei. Arachidonic acid metabolism in health and disease: An introduction. Acta Physiol Sin 2021; 73 (4): 535-538 (in Chinese with English abstract).