Fig. 1From: Effects of FADS and ELOVL polymorphisms on indexes of desaturase and elongase activities: results from a pre-post fish oil supplementationSynthesis of n-3 and n-6 PUFAs in humans. Elongases and desaturases are the enzymes responsible for the conversion of α-linolenic acid (ALA, C18:3n-3) to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6n-3). They are also involved in the synthesis of omega-6′s products, mainly the arachidonic acid (AA, C20:4n-6) which leads to the production of proinflammatory mediators. Desaturases and elongases are both involved in the fatty acid metabolism. These enzymes are encoded by genes from the FADS gene cluster and the ELOVL gene familyBack to article page