Abnormal fatty acid composition and impaired oxygen supply in cystic fibrosis patients.

Impaired oxygen supply and deteriorating health, in cystic fibrosis patients, correlates with 
abnormal changes in the fatty acid composition of blood lipids. As 
the proportion of oleates increases and that of linoleates decreases, erythrocyte 
membrane interference with the formation of intracellular oxyhemoglobin increases and arterial 
oxygen pressure decreases. The physical-chemical basis for these changes seems to 
be that oleic and linoleic acid differ in their ability to 
undergo reversible oxygenation in response to changes in oxygen pressure. The 
oxygen complex of linoleic acid dissociates at relatively high pressures, whereas 
that of oleic dissociates only at low pressures. Accordingly, excessive substitution 
of oleic for linoleic acid in membrane lipids would be expected 
to decrease the intracellular oxygen pressure to a level where hemoglobin 
oxygenation and any other oxygen-requiring processes would be impaired. 