Anti-Obesity Effects of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid

Abstract

Polyunsaturated-fatty-acids have different physiological effects depending on the number and position of a double bond exists within the representative molecule, and the difference of acyl-chain length. According to the anti-obesity effects of polyunsaturated-fatty-acids, there are many researches with conjugated-fatty-acids (particularly conjugated-linoleic-acid) and n-3 polyunsaturated-fatty-acids (particularly eicosapentaenoic-acid, docosahexaenoic-acid, or fish oil which contains these fatty acids), which are conducted about the anti-obesity potentials and the mechanisms, possible effects on energy expenditure, lipid metabolism and so on, in cells, animals, and humans. In this review, we focus on conjugated-fatty-acids and n-3 polyunsaturated-fatty-acids in anti-obesity effects, and summarize of the potential of efficacy and possible mechanisms with recent reports.