Abnormalities in Plasma Essential Fatty Acid Levels in Women with Premenstrual Syndrome and with Non-malignant Breast Disease

Fatty acids in plasma phospholipids were measured in two groups of women with premenstrual syndrome, two groups with cyclical breast disease and two groups with non-cyclical breast disease and were compared with two groups of normal controls. All the patient groups showed similar abnormalities which made them different from both sets of controls. Concentrations of the main dietary n — 6 essential fatty acid (EFA), linoleic acid, were consistently higher in the patients than in the controls, whereas levels of linoleic acid metabolites were consistently lower. This suggests that these patients have an abnormality in EFA metabolism, probably involving reduced conversion of linoleic acid to its EFA products. Concentrations of the n — 3 EFAs were for the most part near normal, with a tendency to elevation in premenstrual syndrome and to reduction in non-cyclical breast disease.