Francois Mendy

Lipidic compositions for use in dietetics, reanimation and therapeutics

Lipidic compositions for use in dietetics, reanimation and therapeutics which contain: (A) an oil containing natural gamma -linolenic acid, possibly enriched in gamma -linolenic acid; or gamma -linolenic acid itself or an ester thereof and (B) pure medium chain triglycerides.

Comparative effects of linoleic acid and gamma-linolenic acid intake on plasma lipids and platelet phospholipids in elderly people

Abstract It has been speculated that linoleic acid might be a precursor for platelet potentially anti-thrombotic polyunsaturated fatty acids like dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid. In elderly people, who are considered as a pre-thrombotic state, desaturation of linoleic acid may be diminished. To by-pass this rate limiting step, gamma-linolenic acid was given to elderly people and compared to linoleic acid with regard to the composition of plasma and platelet lipids. Sixteen old subjects took a daily supplement of lg of linoleic acid plus lg of gamma-linolenic acid (primrose oil) or 2g of linoleic acid (sunflower oil) for periods of two months in a cross over study. Increases in both dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid and arachidonic acid were noted in plasma lipids and platelet phospholipids after primrose oil supplementation. In contrast, sunflower oil did not induce such increases. Since dihomo-gamma-linolenic and arachidonic acid have opposite effects upon platelet functions, these findings could explain why primrose oil intake did not lead to any modification of platelet functions in elderly people