ArticleScientific reports2020
Efficacy of dietary odd-chain saturated fatty acid pentadecanoic acid parallels broad associated health benefits in humans: could it be essential?
Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 113 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
113 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 230 citations in OpenAlex.
- Biomarkers of dairy fat intake, incident cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality: A cohort study, systematic review, and meta-analysis.PLoS medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Probiotic supplementation improves body composition, lipid profiles, and fatty acid metabolism in combat sports athletes during the weight reduction phase.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Full-fat yogurt compared with non-fat yogurt reduces blood triacylglycerol concentrations and lowers the triacylglycerol content in specific lipoprotein subclasses in adults with prediabetes: an exploratory analysis of a randomized-controlled trial.Lipids in health and disease · 2025Trial
- Pentadecanoic Acid Supplementation in Young Adults with Overweight and Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Trial.The Journal of nutrition · 2024Trial
- Assessing the Potential of an Enzymatically Liberated Salmon Oil to Support Immune Health Recovery from Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection via Change in the Expression of Cytokine, Chemokine and Interferon-Related Genes.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Trial
- Thraustochytrids from the Red Sea mangroves in Egypt and their abilities to produce Omega-3 fatty acids.Microbial cell factories · 2026Article
- Article
- A Postbiotic-Inducing Ganoderma applanatum Polysaccharide Repairs the Intestinal Barrier via a Phocaeicola vulgatus - Tridecylic Acid Axis.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Multi-reflecting time-of-flight mass spectrometry enables high-accuracy metabolite identification in a demonstration study using serum samples from COVID-19 patients.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2026Article
- Overlooked components of lipid metabolism: Odd-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in photosynthetic microorganisms.Journal of phycology · 2026Review
- Article
- Erythrocyte Membrane Fatty Acid Remodeling and Zinc Protoporphyrin Alterations Associated with Anemia Severity in Hemodialysis Patients.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- Meat Quality Characteristics of Mongolian Horses in Inner Mongolia: Regional Superiority and Transcriptomic Insights into Tenderness Differences Between Muscular Locations.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Article
- Renal function-improving action of Pentadecyl®, a multifunctional triglyceride fromExperimental and therapeutic medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Odd-Chain Fatty Acids-Enriched Algal Oil Improves Locomotor Function and Modulates Metabolic Pathways inMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Population-based genome-wide association study of plasma complex lipid species.Nature communications · 2026Article
- A Novel Function of Nonadecanoic Acid in Regulating Glucose Homeostasis.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
53 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Dietary odd-chain saturated fatty acids (OCFAs) are present in trace levels in dairy fat and some fish and plants. Higher circulating concentrations of OCFAs, pentadecanoic acid (C15:0) and heptadecanoic acid (C17:0), are associated with lower risks of cardiometabolic diseases, and higher dietary intake of OCFAs is associated with lower mortality. Population-wide circulating OCFA levels, however, have been declining over recent years. Here, we show C15:0 as an active dietary fatty acid that attenuates inflammation, anemia, dyslipidemia, and fibrosis in vivo, potentially by binding to key metabolic regulators and repairing mitochondrial function. This is the first demonstration of C15:0's direct role in attenuating multiple comorbidities using relevant physiological mechanisms at established circulating concentrations. Pairing our findings with evidence that (1) C15:0 is not readily made endogenously, (2) lower C15:0 dietary intake and blood concentrations are associated with higher mortality and a poorer physiological state, and (3) C15:0 has demonstrated activities and efficacy that parallel associated health benefits in humans, we propose C15:0 as a potential essential fatty acid. Further studies are needed to evaluate the potential impact of decades of reduced intake of OCFA-containing foods as contributors to C15:0 deficiencies and susceptibilities to chronic disease.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.