Health effects and metabolism of dietary eicosapentaenoic acid

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a long chain fatty acid of the n-3 series, is found in marine foods. Beneficial effects of these foods containing EPA on factors associated with cardiovascular disease risk and arterial thrombosis have been demonstrated. More recently, studies have suggested that EPA may also have a favourable effect on other human diseases such as arthritis, renal disorders, psoriasis and possibly also cancer. EPA is metabolized in a manner generally similar to that of arachidonic acid (AA) although some significant differences between the two are apparent. The metabolic fate of dietary EPA in human subjects is reviewed herein with inclusion of information from animal studies where human data is not available. The metabolism of EPA in the phospholipids of human platelets is emphasized to some extent. Effects of EPA on AA metabolism are also described.