Table 1.

Fatty acid composition of follicular fluid from small and large follicles from women undergoing a controlled ovarian stimulation cycle (n = 54 women)

Fatty acid	Small follicles	Large follicles	P value
SAT	36.52 ± 0.34	36.32 ± 0.35	0.621
Myristic (14:0)	0.86 ± 0.06	0.73 ± 0.05	0.029
Pentadecanoic (15:0)	0.31 ± 0.02	0.25 ± 0.01	0.001
Palmitic (16:0)	22.77 ± 0.27	22.85 ± 0.27	0.798
Heptadecanoic (17:0)	0.36 ± 0.03	0.31 ± 0.01	0.134
Stearic (18:0)	9.45 ± 0.13	9.35 ± 0.12	0.543
Nonadecanoic (19:0)	0.08 ± 0.01	0.09 ± 0.01	0.304
Arachidic (20:0)	0.34 ± 0.01	0.33 ± 0.01	0.509
Henicosanoic (21:0)	0.27 ± 0.02	0.32 ± 0.03	0.035
Behenic (22:0)	0.91 ± 0.02	0.91 ± 0.02	0.984
Tricosanoic (23:0)	0.32 ± 0.01	0.34 ± 0.01	0.003
Lignoceric (24:0)	0.65 ± 0.01	0.67 ± 0.02	0.046
Pentacosanoic (25:0)	0.08 ± 0.01	0.07 ± 0.01	0.298
MUFA	22.52 ± 0.49	22.59 ± 0.74	0.931
Myristoleic (14:1n-5)	0.03 ± 0.01	0.02 ± 0.00	0.142
Trans-palmitoleic (16:1n-7 trans)	0.09 ± 0.01	0.06 ± 0.01	0.019
Palmitoleic (16:1n-7 cis)	1.18 ± 0.05	1.13 ± 0.06	0.191
Elaidic (18:1n-9 trans)	0.14 ± 0.01	0.23 ± 0.05	0.082
Oleic (18:1n-9 cis)	17.78 ± 0.45	17.80 ± 0.64	0.973
Vaccenic (18:1n-7)	1.58 ± 0.03	1.55 ± 0.03	0.417
Eicosenoic (20:1n-9)	0.32 ± 0.01	0.34 ± 0.02	0.385
Nervonic (24:1n-9)	1.40 ± 0.04	1.47 ± 0.04	0.017
PUFA	40.95 ± 0.50	41.08 ± 0.56	0.792
n-6 PUFA	37.00 ± 0.51	36.89 ± 0.54	0.814
Linoelaidic (18:2n-6 trans)	0.07 ± 0.01	0.08 ± 0.01	0.296
Linoleic (18:2n-6 cis)	26.12 ± 0.43	25.59 ± 0.44	0.100
γ-Linolenic (18:3n-6)	0.19 ± 0.01	0.18 ± 0.01	< 0.001
Eicosadienoic (20:2n-6)	0.39 ± 0.01	0.36 ± 0.01	0.002
Dihomo-γ-linolenic (20:3n-6)	1.76 ± 0.06	1.88 ± 0.07	< 0.001
Arachidonic (20:4n-6)	7.88 ± 0.26	8.26 ± 0.25	0.012
Docosatetraenoic (22:4n-6)	0.36 ± 0.01	0.31 ± 0.01	0.001
Docosapentaenoic (22:5n-6)	0.23 ± 0.01	0.22 ± 0.01	0.281
n-3 PUFA	3.95 ± 0.15	4.20 ± 0.17	< 0.001
α-Linolenic (18:3n-3)	0.25 ± 0.02	0.18 ± 0.01	< 0.001
Eicosapentaenoic (20:5n-3)	0.57 ± 0.05	0.63 ± 0.06	0.038
Docosapentaenoic (22:5n-3)	0.36 ± 0.01	0.38 ± 0.02	0.014
DHA (22:6n-3)	2.77 ± 0.10	3.01 ± 0.11	< 0.001
n-6/n-3 ratio	10.13 ± 0.42	9.60 ± 0.41	< 0.001
Double bond index	137.67 ± 1.21	139.86 ± 1.15	0.011
Chain length	17.94 ± 0.02	17.98 ± 0.02	< 0.001
Peroxidizability index	0.91 ± 0.02	0.94 ± 0.02	0.024
20:4n-6/18:2n-6 ratio	0.30 ± 0.01	0.33 ± 0.01	< 0.001

Note: Data are expressed as the percentage of total moles of measured fatty acids and are the mean ± standard error of the mean

DHA docosahexaenoic acid, MUFA total monounsaturated fatty acids, PUFA total polyunsaturated fatty acids, SAT total saturated fatty acids