Erucic acid

Increased levels of erucic acid (22:1n9) have been found in the red blood cell membranes of autistic subjects with developmental regression (PMID: 16581239) . Erucic acid is broken down long-chain acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) dehydrogenase which is produced in the liver. This enzyme breaks this long chain fatty acid into shorter-chain fatty acids. human infants have relatively low amounts of this enzyme and because of this babies should not be given foods high in erucic acid. Erucic acid is found to be associated with isovaleric acidemia which is an inborn error of metabolism.