HYPOTHESIS - ARE FATTY-ACID PATTERNS CHARACTERISTIC OF ESSENTIAL FATTY-ACID DEFICIENCY INDICATIVE OF OXIDATIVE STRESS

Several unrelated diseases show plasma and tissue fatty acid patterns characteristic of those seen in Essential Fatty Acid Deficiency Diseas e (EFADD). A common feature occurring in all these diseases is oxidati ve stress. We hypothesize that reactive oxygen species or products of oxidative damage, particularly those derived from lipids, act as signa l molecules to alter desaturase enzymes and induce the fatty acid patt ern characteristic of EFADD.