The relationship between adipose fatty acid levels and age is examined in 635 Scottish fertile women aged 25-48. Fatty acids levels are highly significantly correlated with age. Factor analysis identifies four factors that account for 79.6% of variance in the data. Three Factors show significant regressions with age and patterns of involvement of specific fatty acids suggest that these Factors represent the activity of fatty acid delta-desaturase enzymes as follows: Factor 1-delta-9-desaturase, Factor 2-delta-5-desaturase, and Factor 4-delta-6-desaturase. Key changes, apparently reductions in enzyme activity, occur through the 30 and 40-year-old age groups. Such changes in enzyme function could account for decline in female fertility and increases in body fat and chronic disease common in early mid-life.
2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.