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Enzymatic Synthesis of Epoxidized Metabolites of Docosahexaenoic, Eicosapentaenoic, and Arachidonic Acids
Published on: June 28, 2019
Intended Ranges and Correlations between Percentages of Variables Like Oleic Acid, Eicosapentaenoic Acid, and
1Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1130 Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway.
Abstract:
In chicken muscle, we previously showed that ranges of oleic acid (OA), arachidonic acid (AA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) might explain why %OA was inversely related to %AA, and that %EPA correlated positively with %AA. We here try to clarify further how ranges of the fatty acids could make strong associations between their relative amounts, utilizing published data from chicken muscle and human sera. We generated random number variables (OA', AA', EPA') in lieu of the true variables, and we studied effects of altering their ranges upon scatterplots of %OA' vs. %AA' (%EPA'), and %AA' vs. %EPA'. To explain the results, we first applied the equation OA' + AA' + EPA' = S, i.e., %OA' + %AA' + %EPA' = 100. Next, we considered how the OA' (AA', EPA') fractions of S related to S. Increasing the OA' range towards higher values improved the positive association between %AA' and %EPA'. Thus, increased intake of OA could improve the positive correlations between percentages of eicosanoid precursors, raising the question of whether "intended ranges" of some fatty acids represent a case of evolutionary selection to, e.g., achieve balance between eicosanoids.
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