Application Notes:
This high purity monounsaturated fatty acid methyl ester is ideal as a standard and for biological systems. cis-10-
heptadecenoic acid has been claimed to be a minor component of ruminant fats but this finding has recently been disputed
with cis-9-heptadecenoic acid being identified as the fatty acid in question.1 cis-10-Heptadecenoic acid has been shown to
have some inhibitory activity against human cancer cells HL-60 although less than some other saturated long chain fatty
acids.2 This fatty acid has a cis double bond at an even carbon (carbon 10) and therefore cannot be enzymatically degraded
via the usual beta-oxidation pathway. Instead, a reductase-isomerase or an epimerase pathway must be employed in the
metabolism of this fatty acid.3
References:
1. S. Alves et al. “Short Communication: The Nature of Heptadecenoic Acid in Ruminant Fats” Journal of Dairy Science, vol. 89 pp. 170-173, 2006
2. M. Fukuzawa et al. “Possible involvement of long chain fatty acids in the spores of Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi Houshi) to its anti-tumor activity” Biol
Pharm Bull, vol. 31 pp. 1933-1937, 2008
3. L. Allenbach and Y. Poirier “Analysis of the Alternative Pathways for the -Oxidation of Unsaturated Fatty Acids Using Transgenic Plants Synthesizing
Polyhydroxyalkanoates in Peroxisomes” Plant Physiology, vol. 124 pp. 1159-1168, 2000