Essential fatty acid deficiency and evidence for arachidonate synthesis in the cat.

1. There is controversy regarding the capacity of the cat to convert 18: 2 omega 6 to 20: 4 omega 6 and the ability of the essential fatty acid (EFA)-deficient cat to produce 20: 3 omega 9. 2. This paper reports the isolation and identification of 20: 3 omega 9 from kidney phospholipids of EFA-deficient cats. 3. The results suggest that the cat is capable of limited synthesis of 20: 4 omega 6 using a delta 5- and delta 8-desaturase.