Desaturation of eicosa-11,14-dienoic acid in human testes

The metabolism of [1-14C]eicosa-11,14-dienoic acid was investigated in human testes using whole tissue minces and microsomal preparations. Both types of preparations catalyzed the desaturation of the labeled diene to eicosa-8,11,14-trienoic as well as eicosa-5,11,14-trienoic acid. The reported results, therefore, indicate that human testicular tissue, as well as rat testicular tissue (reported previously), is capable of utilizing eicosa-11,14-dienoic acid as a precursor of arachidonic acid. Since it is known that there is no delta 8 desaturase activity in rat liver and brain, these studies support the concept that there is a tissue variation in this enzymatic pathway.