Molecules 2015, 20, 2425-2444; doi:10.3390/molecules20022425 OPEN ACCESS molecules ISSN 1420-3049 www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules Review A Review of Odd-Chain Fatty Acid Metabolism and the Role of Pentadecanoic Acid (C15:0) and Heptadecanoic Acid (C17:0) in Health and Disease Benjamin Jenkins, James A. West and Albert Koulman * MRC HNR, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, Fulbourn Road, Cambridge CB1 9NL, UK; E-Mails:
[email protected] (B.J.);
[email protected] (J.A.W.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +44-(0)-1223-426-356. Academic Editor: Derek J. McPhee Received: 11 December 2014 / Accepted: 23 January 2015 / Published: 30 January 2015 Abstract: The role of C17:0 and C15:0 in human health has recently been reinforced following a number of important biological and nutritional observations. Historically, odd chain saturated fatty acids (OCS-FAs) were used as internal standards in GC-MS methods of total fatty acids and LC-MS methods of intact lipids, as it was thought their concentrations were insignificant in humans. However, it has been thought that increased consumption of dairy products has an association with an increase in blood plasma OCS-FAs. However, there is currently no direct evidence but rather a casual association through epidemiology studies. Furthermore, a number of studies on cardiometabolic diseases have shown that plasma concentrations of OCS-FAs are associated with lower disease risk, although the mechanism responsible for this is debated. One possible mechanism for the endogenous production of OCS-FAs is α-oxidation, involving the activation, then hydroxylation of the α-carbon, followed by the removal of the terminal carboxyl group.