A capillary gas liquid chromatography method was established for the routine determination of fatty acid profiles from washed erythrocyte membranes. Only the five major fatty acids found in erythrocytes (palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and arachidonic acids) had acceptable precision (CVs <10·0%) for use in establishing quantitative differences between groups of individuals. Reference values were established for the relative amounts of these five fatty acids in adults. Significant alterations in the relative concentrations of oleic and arachidonic acids were found after storage at +4°C for 24 h, which has important implications in the study of changes in erythrocyte fatty acids in cancer and diabetes.
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