Linoleate metabolism in multiple sclerosis

Levels of linoleate and arachidonate in red blood cells of healthy individuals and patients with multiple sclerosis.

“…9 The levels of arachidonate in normal serum are low, and it does not seem that the correlation between linoleate and arachidonate in the normal red cell would arise simply from the relative amounts of these acids in the plasma. Indeed, much of the arachidonate in the red cell is found in the acidic phospholipids, phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylethanolamine," of which the levels are low in the serum lipoproteins.…”

Effect of Prolonged Ingestion of γ-Linolenate by MS Patients

“…(1) Since it is well recognised that the fatty acid composition of the brain can be altered by changes in the dietary intake of different fatty acids (31,32) and the supplementation of the diet leads to an increase in the serum level of this fatty acid (33), it would seem reasonable to supplement the diet of young children found to have the 'MS type' of E-UFA result with ylinolenate. This would convert their membranes (including oligodendrocyte membranes) to normal, and since the human brain goes on myelinating until at least 16 years of age, lead to the laying down of normal as opposed to 'MS type' myelin, obviating susceptibility to de velopment of MS.…”

Dietary Fat in the Epidemiology of Multiple Sclerosis: Has the Situation Been Adequately Assessed?

“…This was however challenged by the explanation that this tissue already contained microscopic plaques of demyelination and thus showed changes secondary to pathology [38]. Work on serum fat composition (table l ) has produced conflicting results [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54], Most studies are on a small number of cases, and selection of control subjects has not always been ade quate. Often, no distinction between subjects in remission or relapse has been made.…”