Linolenic acid

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Linolenic acid is an 18-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acid with three double bonds. The isomer called alpha-linolenic acid, an Omega-3 fatty acid, is essential for all mammals. A particularly rich food source is flaxseed. Alpha-linolenic acid has been associated with reduced cardiovascular risk through reduced cardiac arrythmias and reduced carotid arteriosclerosis; however, epidemiology has also linked alpha-linolenic acid with rapidly progressing prostate cancer and macular degeneration. Another isomer of linolenic acid is gamma-linolenic acid, an Omega-6 fatty acid which is the product of desaturation of Linoleic acid. This fatty acid is rare in food, and is sometimes taken as an oil supplement because its elongation product, di-homo gamma linolenic acid, is an important constituent of cell membrane phospholids in its role as precursor to the series-1 eicosonoids.

pl:kwas linolenowy