Table 5 Fatty acid profile and estimated desaturase activities studied before and after 2-months of well-balanced diet intervention

C16:0

26.8 ± 2.4

26.6 ± 2.6

−0.16 (−0.69 to 0.35)

0.53

0.08

C16:1

2.7 ± 0.9

2.5 ± 0.9

−0.16 (−0.32 to −0.01)

0.038

0.017

−0.20 (−0.37 to −0.04)^a

C18:0

5.9 ± 0.8

6.0 ± 0.9

−0.05 (−0.14 to 0.25)

0.59

0.93

C18:1

22.4 ± 3.6

22.3 ± 3.8

−0.10 (−0.86 to 0.65)

0.79

0.79

C18:2 n-6

28.7 ± 4.5

28.3 ± 3.9

−0.44 (−1.25 to 0.38)

0.28

0.22

C18:3 n-3

0.5 ± 0.2

0.5 ± 0.5

0.05 (−0.06 to 0.15)

0.38

0.43

C18:3 n-6

0.3 ± 0.1

0.3 ± 0.3

0.04 (−0.01 to 0.10)

0.14

0.09

C20:3 n-6

1.4 ± 0.3

1.3 ± 0.3

−0.04 (−0.09 to 0.00)

0.06

0.019

−0.07 (−0.12 to −0.01)^a

C20:4 n-6

8.9 ± 1.6

9.3 ± 1.9

0.45 (0.12 to 0.77)

0.007

0.001

0.64 (0.28 to 1.00)^a

C20:5 n-3

0.6 ± 0.3

0.7 ± 0.4

0.09 (0.01 to 0.17)

0.030

0.007

0.11 (0.03 to 0.19)^a

C22:5 n-3

0.3 ± 0.2

0.3 ± 0.1

0.01 (−0.03 to 0.05)

0.69

0.33

C22:6 n-3

1.6 ± 0.5

1.9 ± 0.6

0.23 (0.13 to 0.33)

<0.001

<0.001

0.29 (0.18–0.34)^a

AA/EPA

20.1 ± 10.4

19.4 ± 11.8

−0.62 (−2.80 to 1.55)

0.57

0.47

Saturated fatty acids

32.7 ± 2.4

32.6 ± 2.9

−0.11 (−0.74 to 0.51)

0.72

0.15

Monounsaturated fatty acids

25.1 ± 3.8

24.8 ± 3.9

−0.27 (−1.05 to 0.51)

0.50

0.79

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)

42.2 ± 5.0

42.6 ± 4.7

0.38 (−0.65 to 1.41)

0.47

0.27

Total omega-6 PUFA

39.2 ± 5.1

39.2 ± 4.6

0.01 (−0.99 to 1.01)

0.99

0.81

Total omega-3 PUFA

3.0 ± 0.8

3.4 ± 1.0

0.37 (0.17 to 0.57)

<0.001

<0.001

0.46 (0.26 to 0.66)^a

omega-6/omega-3

14.0 ± 4.0

12.6 ± 4.0

−1.37 (−2.16 to −0.57)

0.001

<0.001

−1.67 (−2.47 to −0.88)^a

Δ 9C16:0 Desaturase

0.1 ± 0.0

0.1 ± 0.0

−0.01 (−0.01 to 0.00)

0.09

0.09

Δ9C18:0 Desaturase

3.9 ± 0.9

3.9 ± 1.1

−0.03 (−0.2 to 0.18)

0.77

0.74

Δ5 Desaturase

7.0 ± 1.9

7.8 ± 2.4

0.71 (0.35 to 1.08)

<0.001

<0.001

0.96 (0.57 to 1.35)^a

Δ6 Desaturase

0.01 ± 0.01

0.01 ± 0.01

0.002 (−0.000 to 0.004)

0.10

0.06