Fatty Acids

There are hundreds of different fatty acids found in nature with chain lengths ranging from three to more than 30 carbon atoms and up to seven or eight double bonds. In making our product selections for this section, we have tried to include the primary substrates for all of the known lipoxygenase, epoxygenase, and cyclooxygenase enzymes. These substrates include the majority of 18, 20, and 22 carbon polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).

All the fatty acids in this section are provided as stock solutions in ethanol. These stock solutions can be diluted into buffer of pH > 7 to obtain the desired working concentration. If the presence of ethanol in your working solution is undesirable, you may evaporate the fatty acid to dryness under a stream of nitrogen and then dissolve it with 0.01 M sodium hydroxide. This solution can then be further diluted into buffer of pH > 7 to obtain the desired concentration. It is important that water used to prepare the buffer be distilled/deionized to remove all trace metals and then purged of oxygen. A simple and practical procedure to obtain deoxygenated solvents is to bubble nitrogen, argon, or helium through them for 30 minutes.

After preparation, PUFA solutions should be stored in a dark, tightly-sealed container that has been flushed with argon. This solution will be stable at 4°C for at least 24 hours.

Suggestions for further reading

Debry, G. and Pelletier, X. Physiological importance of ?-3/?-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in man. An overview of still unresolved and controversial questions.
Experientia 47, 172-178 (1991). Burgoyne, R.D. and Morgan, A. The control of free arachidonic acid levels. Trends Biochem. Sci. 15, 365-366 (1990).
Gunstone, F.D. Gamma linolenic acid-Occurrence and physical and chemical properties. Prog. Lipid Res. 31, 145-161 (1992).

| Back to Scientific Section Page |