Talk:Linoleic acid

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The footnote giving the reference for the chemical formula was removed. Should it be reinstated, or should the footnote be removed? Ged3000 19:55, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chemical Formula of Linoleic acid

For some reason, the Chemical Formula of Linoleic acid (and precisely calculated Molar mass) was identified (I think by an automated anti-vandal bot) to be unnecessary to the description of Linoleic acid. As it took me a good deal of time to calculate (mainly for the purpose of calculating the CO2 emissions of the acid after combustion (as in Biofuel), then for critically comparing it to other fatty acids (as a learning exercise: to further expand the info in other pages on fatty acids)), I would greatly appreciate it if this info was re-entered as I believe that it would save myself and many others a good deal of time in researching the chemistry of fatty acids in future. I hereby insert my expanded line of text preceeded by the appropriate line of comparison text: (Linoleic acid (LA) is an unsaturated omega-6 fatty acid with the molecular formula C₁₈H₃₂O₂)( AND/OR the chemical formula CH₃-CH₂-CH₂-CH₂-CH₂-CH=CH-CH₂-CH=CH-CH₂-CH₂-CH₂-CH₂-CH₂-CH₂-CH₂-COOH of Molar mass 280.44548(1724) g/mol.) P.S. I honestly believe that this additional & precise information would be of help to students studying the chemistry of fatty acids (by reading the Wikipedia, reluctant as I am to troll the net via Google-esque search programs). If you believe that this one line of data constitutes either vandalism, or is so un-helpful, that it might as well be vandalism, then please comment thusly. Otherwise, if you might think that this data is no more un-helpful than any of the other data listed on this page (or similar pages), then please feel free to re-insert the above line. P.P.S. As I have saved my research locally, your (pending) decision doesn't really affect me much, but I would hope that my thorough attention to detail would preclude any future attempts to reverse or nullify my contributions to a community that seems centered around mutual cooperation to understand the world's detailed structures and chemistries.

I don't understand why it was removed either, but your contribution appeared to be very useful. I would put it back in. If the bot tries to remove it again, we should probably complain to whomever is running it. Frankg 19:21, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Anticarcinogenic effect

User:Panos AGR has been attempting to add a reference to an article on linoleic acid as a cancer preventitive. I have had a look at the article, and it's not in a peer reviewed journal, it cites research selectively (for example saying that the effect of fibre on colon cancer is "in question", citing two studies, neither of which is a large review) and advances the Warburg hypothesis of carcinogenesis (lack of cellular oxygen). --Slashme 09:53, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Is linoleic acid a precursor for prostaglandins?

It says on this page that linoleic acid is used in prostaglandin synthesis. I was under the impression that arachidonic acid was the main substrate for prostaglandin synthesis. Does anyone know for certain whether linoleic acid is used as well? My instinct is that it isn't a substrate, because prostaglandins are 20 carbons long and linoleic acid is only 18, so it would need to be extended before being used in prostaglandin synthesis. Can anyone comment on this?