Nervonic acid and its sphingolipids: Biological functions and potential food applications

Abstract

Nervonic acid, a 24-carbon fatty acid with only one double bond at the 9th carbon (C24:1n-9), is abundant in the human brain, liver, and kidney. It not only functions in free form but also serves as a critical component of sphingolipids which participate in many biological processes such as cell membrane formation, apoptosis, and neurotransmission. Recent studies show that nervonic acid supplementation is not only beneficial to human health but also can improve the many medical conditions such as neurological diseases, cancers, diabetes, obesity, and their complications. Nervonic acid and its sphingomyelins serve as a special material for myelination in infants and remyelination patients with multiple sclerosis. Besides, the administration of nervonic acid is reported to reduce motor disorder in mice with Parkinson’s disease and limit weight gain. Perturbations of nervonic acid and its sphingolipids might lead to the pathogenesis of many diseases and understanding these mechanisms is critical for investigating potential therapeutic approaches for such diseases. However, available studies about this aspect are limited. In this review, relevant findings about functional mechanisms of nervonic acid have been comprehensively and systematically described, focusing on four interconnected functions: cellular structure, signaling, anti-inflammation, lipid mobilization, and their related diseases.

Keywords:

• Signal transduction
• anti-inflammation
• neurological disease
• lipid mobilization
• very-long-chain fatty acid

Acknowledgments

The authors thanks to Prof. Li-Ming Li for the advices on this article, and her cooperation in related work.

Disclosure statement

The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exists.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by grants from the Key R&D Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2018YFE0107200), Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Project (KFJ-STS-ZDTP-065), and Shandong Energy Institute Key Project (SEI I202136), Qingdao Key Health Discipline Development Fund (QDZDZK2022094).