2. Academic Validation
  3. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) as a functional food: Is it beneficial or not?

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) as a functional food: Is it beneficial or not?

  • Food Res Int. 2023 Oct:172:113158. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.113158.
Sara Badawy 1,  Yanan Liu 2,  Mingyue Guo 2,  Zhenli Liu 2,  Changqing Xie 2,  Marawan A Marawan 3,  Irma Ares 4,  Bernardo Lopez-Torres 4,  Marta Martínez 4,  Jorge-Enrique Maximiliano 4,  María-Rosa Martínez-Larrañaga 4,  Xu Wang 5,  Arturo Anadón 6,  María-Aránzazu Martínez 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 National Reference Laboratory of Veterinary Drug Residues (HZAU) and MAO Key Laboratory for Detection of Veterinary Drug Residues, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China; Pathology Department of Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University, Egypt.
  • 2 MAO Laboratory for Risk Assessment of Quality and Safety of Livestock and Poultry Products, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China.
  • 3 The State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China; Infectious Diseases, Animal Medicine Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University, Egypt.
  • 4 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), and Research Institute Hospital 12 de Octubre (i+12), 28040 Madrid, Spain.
  • 5 National Reference Laboratory of Veterinary Drug Residues (HZAU) and MAO Key Laboratory for Detection of Veterinary Drug Residues, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China; MAO Laboratory for Risk Assessment of Quality and Safety of Livestock and Poultry Products, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 6 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), and Research Institute Hospital 12 de Octubre (i+12), 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 37689911 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.113158
Abstract

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has attracted great attention in recent years as a popular class of functional food that is broadly used. It refers to a group of geometric and positional isomers of linoleic acid (LA) with a conjugated double bond. The main natural sources of CLA are dairy products, beef and lamb, whereas only trace amounts occur naturally in plant lipids. CLA has been shown to improve various health issues, having effects on obesity, inflammatory, anti-carcinogenicity, atherogenicity, immunomodulation, and osteosynthesis. Also, compared to studies on humans, many animal researches reveal more positive benefits on health. CLA represents a nutritional avenue to improve lifestyle diseases and metabolic syndrome. Most of these effects are attributed to the two major CLA isomers [conjugated linoleic acid cis-9,trans-11 isomer (c9,t11), and conjugated linoleic acid trans-10,cis-12 isomer (t10,c12)], and their mixture (CLA mix). In contrast, adverse effects of CLA have been also reported, such as glucose homeostasis, Insulin resistance, hepatic steatosis and induction of colon carcinogenesis in humans, as well as milk fat inhibition in ruminants, lowering chicken productivity, influencing egg quality and altering growth performance in fish. This review article aims to discuss the health benefits of CLA as a nutraceutical supplement and highlight the possible mechanisms of action that may contribute to its outcome. It also outlines the feasible adverse effects of CLA besides summarizing the recent peer-reviewed publications on CLA to ensure its efficacy and safety for proper application in humans.

Keywords

CLA adverse effects; Conjugated linoleic acid; Functional food; Health benefits; Toxicity.

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