The pathology of essential fatty acid deficiency: is it cell adhesion mediated?

For almost 70 years, essential fatty acid deficiency has been known to be a ssociated with skin disorders, vessel abnormalities, and increased tumorige nesis. However, the underlying molecular and cellular mechanism is largely unknown. Recently, it has been reported that essential fatty acids regulate cell adhesion by modifying the expression of cell adhesion molecules. Thes e findings may provide molecular explanations for those phenomena seen in E FAD and this paper aims to discuss these relationships and raise points for further discussion. (C) 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.