[Clinical significance of essential fatty acids (author's transl)].

Essential fatty acids are important constituents of human nutrition. They lower cholesterol and phospholipid levels in serum. They are structural parts of cell membranes, affecting the function of membrane-bound enzymes and transport systems and modulating cellular immune response. Prostaglandins, prostacyclin and thromboxane, the metabolites of essential fatty acids, are active compounds in the cardio-vascular system, the lung, in the uro-genital and gastro-intestinal tract, in the inflammatory response and platelet aggregation.