Támas Décsi|Kathy Kennedy
Sex-specific differences in essential fatty acid metabolism
University of Pecs
sex hormones may influence enzymatic synthesis longchain polyunsaturated fatty acids lcpufas may lead sexspecific differences lcpufa status isotope studies u13c linolenic acid ala shown considerably higher conversion rate ala n3 omega3 lcpufas women men review literature generally suggested higher contribution arachidonic acid aa docosahexaenoic acid dha blood lipids women men however sexspecific differences seen every study fatty acid composition plasma phospholipids recently reported separately large group women men n 3000 living 15 regions europe contributions saturated monounsaturated fatty acids higher whereas aa dha lower men women however sex explained 2 variability plasma phospholipid dha values results reported limited number randomized controlled trials perinatal lcpufa supplementation occasion shown sexspecific differences outcomes however heterogeneity interventions outcomes measured made difficult draw conclusions direction extent effects data summarized current review highlight importance planning subgroup analysis sex perinatal lcpufa supplementation trials