The metabolism of phospholipids and polyunsaturated fatty acids in fish

Citation

Sargent JR, Bell JG, Bell M, Henderson RJ & Tocher DR (1993) The metabolism of phospholipids and polyunsaturated fatty acids in fish. In: Lahlou B & Vitiello P (eds.) Aquaculture: Fundamental and Applied Research. Coastal Estuarine Studies, 43. Washington, D C: American Geophysical Union (AGU), pp. 103-124. http://www.agu.org/books/ce/v043/CE043p0103/CE043p0103.shtml

Abstract
Of all the nutrients required by fish lipids remain the least well understood and, arguably, the major remaining practical and theoretical problems in fish nutrition centre on lipids. This situation is not unique to fish in that a strong parallel occurs in human nutrition where major controversies continue to exist over what constitutes an "optimal" or even "desirable" dietary intake of lipid, particularly in relation to the balance between saturated and unsaturated fat in the diet and, above all, the balance between the (n-6) and (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), i.e. the (n-6) and (n-3) essential fatty acids (EFA). There is growing awareness that some Western societies have an over-high dietary ratio of (n-6)/(n-3)PUFA which is related to their high incidences of human stress-related disorders. This is of direct relevance to fish nutrition because fish, with their natural abundance of (n-3)PUFA, constitute a major source of these nutrients for human diets. It is advantageous, therefore, to maintain high levels of (n-3)PUFA in fish farmed for human consumption, so that it is necessary that fish nutritionists solve the technical and theoretical problems posed by (n-3)PUFA in fish production. Simultaneously, fish nutritionists have unusual opportunities to exploit fish as model species to investigate the basic roles of (n-3)PUFA in the nutrition of animals generally including man.