The pathology of essential fatty acid deficiency: is it cell adhesion mediated?

For almost 70 years, essential fatty acid deficiency has been known to be associated with skin disorders, vessel abnormalities, and increased tumorigenesis. However, the underlying molecular and cellular mechanism is largely unknown. Recently, it has been reported that essential fatty acids regulate cell adhesion by modifying the expression of cell adhesion molecules. These findings may provide molecular explanations for those phenomena seen in EFAD and this paper aims to discuss these relationships and raise points for further discussion.