Table 4.

Erythrocyte phospholipid fatty acid profile at baseline and after 4 weeks on the low LA diet (median interquartile range). All results are expressed as a percentage of the total fatty acid in erythrocyte phospholipids.

		Baseline	Week 4
Monounsaturated fatty acids	Oleic acid (18:1n-9)	14.4 (13.5–15.0)	14.2 (14.1–14.6)
	Total Monounsatuates	18.0 (16.6–18.4)	17.9 (17.3–18.4)
	Stearic acid (18:0)	11.4 (10.9–12.3)	11.9 (11.2–12.6)*
n-6 PUFA	LA (18:2n-6)	10.6 (9.71–11.3)	9.41 (8.78–10.5)***
	DGLA (20:3n-6)	1.62 (1.40–1.87)	1.61 (1.37–1.85)
	AA (20:4n-6)	13.4 (12.8–14.1)	13.3 (12.7–14.0)
	Total n-6 PUFA	29.3 (28.7–30.9)	27.9 (27.2–28.7)***
n-3 PUFA	ALA (18:3n-3)	0.14 (0.13–0.15)	0.12 (0.11–0.15)
	EPA (20:5n-3)	0.76 (0.67–0.95)	0.82 (0.67–0.99)
	DPA (22:5n-3)	2.43 (2.19–2.66)	2.40 (2.11–2.61)
	DHA (22:6n-3)	4.67 (4.07–5.50)	4.64 (4.12–5.22)
	Total n-3 PUFA	8.20 (7.67–8.87)	8.01 (7.60–8.66)

DGLA, dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid; LA, linoleic acid; AA, arachidonic acid; ALA, α-linolenic acid; EPA, eicosapantaenoic acid; DPA, docosapantaenoic acid; DHA, docosahexaenoic acid.

^*P<0.05.

^***P<0.001.