Imperial College London
Alternate

Michael A Crawford PhD, FRSB, FRCPath

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction

Visiting Professor
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)7725 250 541michael.crawford Website CV

 
 
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Location

 

H 3.34Chelsea and Westminster HospitalChelsea and Westminster Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Stark:2016:10.1080/10408398.2013.828678,
author = {Stark, AH and Reifen, R and Crawford, MA},
doi = {10.1080/10408398.2013.828678},
journal = {Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr},
pages = {2261--2267},
title = {Past and Present Insights on Alpha-linolenic Acid and the Omega-3 Fatty Acid Family.},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2013.828678},
volume = {56},
year = {2016}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is the parent essential fatty acid of the omega-3 family. This family includes docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which has been conserved in neural signaling systems in the cephalopods, fish, amphibian, reptiles, birds, mammals, primates, and humans. This extreme conservation, in spite of wide genomic changes of over 500 million years, testifies to the uniqueness of this molecule in the brain and affirms the importance of omega-3 fatty acids. While DHA and its close precursor, eicosapentaenoic acids (EPA), have received much attention by the research community, ALA, as the precursor of both, has been considered of little interest. There are many papers on ALA requirements in experimental animals. Unlike humans, rats and mice can readily convert ALA to EPA and DHA, so it is unclear whether the effect is solely due to the conversion products or to ALA itself. The intrinsic role of ALA has yet to be defined. This paper will discuss both recent and historical findings related to this distinctive group of fatty acids, and will highlight the physiological significance of the omega-3 family.
AU  - Stark,AH
AU  - Reifen,R
AU  - Crawford,MA
DO  - 10.1080/10408398.2013.828678
EP  - 2267
PY  - 2016///
SP  - 2261
TI  - Past and Present Insights on Alpha-linolenic Acid and the Omega-3 Fatty Acid Family.
T2  - Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2013.828678
UR  - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25774650
VL  - 56
ER  -
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