Table 2. Changes in fatty acids (%wt/wt) during storage of RBC samples (n = 13) in methanol over a period of 8 months at −80°C.

	Analysis without storage		Analysis after 8 months storage		Difference*
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	[%]	P
C14:0	0.28	0.07	0.29	0.08	4.09	<0.001
C16:0	22.62	1.21	22.81	1.00	0.85	n.s.
C17:0	0.33	0.04	0.42	0.08	29.50	<0.001
C18:0	17.75	0.55	17.26	0.58	−2.75	<0.001
C16:1n-7	0.35	0.13	0.37	0.14	6.90	n.s.
C18:1n-7	1.35	0.11	1.39	0.12	3.32	n.s.
C18:1n-9	15.04	0.89	14.73	0.74	−2.03	0.040
C20:1n-9	0.31	0.07	0.29	0.04	−7.59	n.s.
C20:3n-9	0.11	0.03	0.10	0.02	−3.45	n.s.
C18:2n-6	11.79	1.29	11.57	1.10	−1.90	n.s.
C18:3n-6	0.06	0.03	0.07	0.03	31.97	0.014
C20:2n-6	0.28	0.04	0.26	0.03	−6.41	n.s.
C20:3n-6	1.91	0.43	1.82	0.39	−4.42	n.s.
C20:4n-6	16.04	1.24	16.63	0.86	3.69	n.s.
C22:4n-6	2.76	0.44	3.19	0.52	15.79	0.004
C22:5n-6	0.78	0.15	0.70	0.15	−9.74	0.048
C18:3n-3	0.14	0.03	0.14	0.03	−1.15	n.s.
C20:5n-3	0.58	0.21	0.60	0.20	3.10	n.s.
C22:5n-3	2.04	0.31	2.22	0.35	8.44	n.s.
C22:6n-3	5.61	1.16	5.26	0.93	−6.30	n.s.

^*Differences in fatty acid contents caused through sample storage were related to fatty acid contents of samples without storage. Mean and SD are expressed as %wt/wt. n.s.: not significant.