Palmitoleic (16:1 n-7) acid and metabolic health: integrating observational, clinical, and mechanistic evidence (opens in new tab)

Palmitoleic acid (POA; 16:1 n-7) has been proposed as a lipokine linking adipose tissue, liver, and skeletal muscle metabolism, but its relevance to human metabolic health remains uncertain. This narrative review integrates observational, clinical, and mechanistic evidence across circulating lipids and lipoproteins, glucose homeostasis, inflammation and vascular markers, adiposity, and hepatic endpoints. In observational studies, higher POA in esterified lipid fractions often tracks with de n...