Letter: Fatty-acid oxidation in cystic fibrosis.

The nature of the metabolic defect in cystic fibrosis (C.F.) is unknown. 
We therefore undertook to study fatty-acid oxidation (Beta-oxidation) in patients with 
C.F. There was no significant difference in the results obtained in 
controls and either affected individuals or heterozygous carriers. All the values 
in the affected individuals lay within the normal range. Unless for 
some special reason the defect is not expressed in leukocytes, these 
results indicate that the metabolic pathway involved in fatty-acid oxidation (Beta-oxidation) 
is intact in C.F. It therefore seems unlikely that the reported 
deficiency of certain essential fatty acids in C.F. is the result 
of a defect in fatty-acid metabolism. 