Nervonic acid



Nervonic acid (24:1, n-9) is a fatty acid. It is a monounsaturated analog of lignoceric acid (24:0). It is also known as selacholeic acid and cis-15-tetracosenoic acid.
It exists in nature as an elongation product of oleic acid (18:1 Δ9), its immediate precursor being erucic acid. Nervonic acid is particularly abundant in the white matter of animal brains and in peripheral nervous tissue where nervonyl sphingolipids are enriched in the myelin sheath of nerve fibers.