Is Pentadecanoic Acid a New Essential Fatty Acid? by Jerry Brainum 12/21

 

Something was wrong with the Navy dolphins in San Diego. Twenty years earlier, a veterinarian had been hired by the Navy to monitor and oversee the health of Navy dolphins. The Navy had a population of about 100 dolphins at a Navy facility in San Diego for over 60 years. The Navy takes good care of these animals to the extent that the dolphins headquartered in San Diego bay live an average of 50% longer than dolphins in the wild. The Navy uses dolphins because of their extraordinary "echolocation" abilities that allow them to detect mines buried in the water. But some of the dolphins had aged and showed some of the same problems that show up in older humans. These included higher cholesterol and blood lipid levels; chronic systemic inflammation, a major cause of aging in humans; and even fatty liver disease, which affects an estimated 20 million Americans. While testing the afflicted dolphins, researchers found 200 small molecules that made the difference whether a dolphin aged badly or remained spry and youthful. The most important compound found in this respect was pentadecanoic acid (PA), classified as an odd-chain saturated fatty acid. While saturated fatty acids have engendered a bad reputation as being a causative agent in the development of cardiovascular disease, that notion has largely fallen into disrepute in recent years because of the lack of substantial evidence that shows a cause and effect relationship between saturated fat and cardiovascular disease (CVD). 

But PA differs from the usual forms of saturated fat because while saturated fat has an even number of carbon atoms in its structure, in PA the carbons are an odd number. For example, palmitic acid is a saturated fat with a chemical formula of C:16. This means that it contains 16  carbon atoms in its structure, and this is the case for all other even-numbered saturated fatty acids. But the PA is known as an odd-chain saturated fat because it contains an uneven number of carbon atoms, with PA containing 15 carbon atoms, so the formula is C:15. This conformational change in the structure of PA gives it properties that are the opposite of other saturated fatty acids. For example, while saturated fats tend to make cellular membranes stiffer and less flexible, PA strengthens the structure of cell membranes by 80%. This is important because increased integrity of cell membranes not only offers greater cellular protection but also the increased flexibility allows greater interactions with hormones, such as insulin and testosterone.

Mitochondria are cigar-shaped organelles that reside in the cytoplasm or liquid portion of cells. The mitochondria are the site of energy production in the cell, where ATP, the most elemental source of cellular energy is produced, as well as the site of fat oxidation in coordination with the CAT enzymes and carnitine. Mitochondria are the powerhouse of cells that provide energy for cellular functions, and with age and . . .