Possible Interaction: Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Phosphatidylethanolamine

“Quantification of phospholipids by LC-MS/MS demonstrated reduced levels of several PE species with polyunsaturated fatty acids , such as 38:6, 38:4, 40:6, 40:5, and 40:4.”

“Relative content of omega 6 and 3 PUFA greater than 18 carbon atoms was significantly reduced especially in phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylserine for infants fed regular MF compared with those fed HM or NMF.”

“Evidence is presented demonstrating that n-3 PUFA exert differential structural effects when incorporated into phosphatidylethanolamines (PE) compared to phosphatidylcholines (PC), which explains some of the conflicting results observed in vivo.”

“ Phosphatidylethanolamine were found to contain a significantly (P<0.05) higher percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to phosphatidylcholine.”

“Relative levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids increased in phosphatidylethanolamine from 27.6 +/- 6.1 mol% to 33.9 < 0.6 mol% (p < 0.05) for n6 fatty acids and from 8.7 +/- 2.1 to 14.7 +/- 1.1 mol% (p < 0.001) for n3 fatty acids.”

“Unsaturation index (UI) and total PUFA increase from late gestation to term in PE (p < 0.05) and decrease during labor (p < 0.05).”

“The increased polyunsaturation was at the expense of PC and PE species containing monounsaturated or saturated fatty acids.”

“Finally, it was found that small amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acyl chains in a phosphatidylethanolamine disproportionally lower its bilayer to hexagonal transition temperature.”