Repairing & Restoring Cellular Health
C15:0 works at the cellular level to reverse key hallmarks of aging, while reducing clinically-relevant drivers of chronic disease.
The essentiality of C15:0 is borne from numerous cellular benefits
C15:0 is a pleiotropic nutrient, which means that it acts in multiple ways to provide broad physical and mental health benefits. Specifically, C15:0 works by naturally targeting key receptors, reversing hallmarks of aging, lowering drivers of chronic disease, and making a beneficial metabolite.
Targeted Receptors
By naturally targeting receptors throughout out bodies, C15:0 has been shown to:
- Activate the AMPK and AKT pathways which maintains cellular homeostasis, regulates glucose metabolism, and is a core component of the human longevity pathway.
- Activate PPAR alpha-delta receptors that regulate metabolism, immunity, mood, appetite, and sleep.
- Inhibit HDAC-6, which reduces cancer cell proliferation.
- Inhibit MAPK and JAK-STAT signaling, which reduces inflammation.
- Inhibit mTOR, which helps to clean up senescent “zombie” cells.
- Inhibit MAO-B and FAAH, which are relevant to cognition, sleep, and pain control.
Selected References
- Ediriweera, M.K. et al. Odd-chain fatty acids as novel histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) inhibitors. Biochimie 186:147-156 (2021).
- Fu, W.C. et al. Pentadecanoic acid promotes basal and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in C2C12 myotubes. Food Nutr Res 65:10.29219/fnr.v65.4527 (2021).
- To, N.B., Nguyen, Y.T., Moon, J.Y., Ediriweera, M.K., Cho, S.K. Pentadecanoic acid, an odd-chain fatty acid, suppresses the stemness of MCF-7/SC human breast cancer stem-like cells through JAK2/STAT3 signaling. Nutrients 12:1663 (2020).
- To et al. Effects of Combined Pentadecanoic Acid and Tamoxifen Treatment on Tamoxifen Resistance in MCF-7/SC Breast Cancer Cells. International Journal of Molecular Science 23, 11340 (2022).
- Venn-Watson, S.K., Jensen, E.D. Aging-associated amyloid-beta plaques and neuroinflammation in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and novel cognitive health-supporting roles of pentadecanoic acid (C15:0). Int J Mol Sci 26:3746 (2025).
- Venn-Watson, S., Lumpkin, R., Dennis, E.A. Efficacy of dietary odd-chain saturated fatty acid pentadecanoic acid parallels broad associated health benefits in humans: could it be essential? Sci Rep 10:8161 (2020).
- Wei et al. Parabacteroides distasonis Uses Dietary Inulin to Suppress NASH via Its Metabolite Pentadecanoic Acid. Nature Microbiology 8, 1534–1548 (2023).
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Reversed Hallmarks of Aging
C15:0 is relevant to multiple drivers of aging and has been shown to:
- Strengthen cell membranes.
- Improve cellular resilience against premature breakdown.
- Decrease reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation.
- Repair mitochondrial function and increase ATP production.
- Improve cellular signaling.
- Slow a key biomarker of aging rate (i.e. raise hemoglobin).
- Slow biological aging, via epigenetic clock studies.
- Fix dysbiosis
- Lower inflammaging
- Activate AMPK and inhibit mTOR
- Inhibit MAO-B
- Have more cell-based clinically relevant longevity-enhancing benefits than leading longevity-enhancing candidates (including rapamycin and metformin)
Selected References
- Adachi, K., Yokoyama, D., Tamai, H., Sadai, M., Oba, K. Effect of the glyceride of pentadecanoic acid on energy metabolism in hair follicles. Int J Cosmetic Sci 15, 125-131 (1993).
- Chooi et al. Effect of An Asian-Adapted Mediterranean Diet and Pentadecanoic Acid on Fatty Liver Disease: The TANGO Randomized Controlled Trial. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 119, 788-799 (2024).
- Ediriweera, M.K. et al. Odd-chain fatty acids as novel histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) inhibitors. Biochimie 186:147-156 (2021).
- Fu et al. Pentadecanoic Acid Promotes Basal and Insulin-Stimulated Glucose Uptake in C2C12 Myotubes. Food Nutrition Research 65 10.29219/fnr.v65.4527 (2021).
- Liu et al. The Lipidomic Correlates of Epigenetic Aging Across the Adult Lifespan: A Population-Based Study. Aging Cell 22, e13934 (2023).
- Soboleva, M.K., Sharapov, V.I., Grek, O.R. Fatty acids of the lipid fraction of erythrocyte membranes and intensity of lipid peroxidation in iron deficiency. Bull Exp Biol Med 117, 600-602 (1994).
- To et al. Effects of Combined Pentadecanoic Acid and Tamoxifen Treatment on Tamoxifen Resistance in MCF-7/SC Breast Cancer Cells. International Journal of Molecular Science 23, 11340 (2022).
- Venn-Watson, S.K., Jensen, E.D. Aging-associated amyloid-beta plaques and neuroinflammation in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and novel cognitive health-supporting roles of pentadecanoic acid (C15:0). Int J Mol Sci 26:3746 (2025).
- Venn-Watson, S., Lumpkin, R., Dennis, E.A. Efficacy of dietary odd-chain saturated fatty acid pentadecanoic acid parallels broad associated health benefits in humans: could it be essential? Sci Rep 10:8161 (2020).
- Venn-Watson et al. Pentadecanoic Acid (C15:0), an Essential Fatty Acid, Shares Clinically Relevant Cell-Based Activities with Leading Longevity-Enhancing Compounds. Nutrients 15, 4607 (2023).
- Venn-Watson et al. The Cellular Stability Hypothesis: Evidence of Ferroptosis and Accelerated Aging-Associated Diseases as Newly Identified Nutritional Pentadecanoic Acid (C15:0) Deficiency Syndrome. Metabolites 14, 355 (2024).
- Wei et al. Parabacteroides distasonis Uses Dietary Inulin to Suppress NASH via Its Metabolite Pentadecanoic Acid. Nature Microbiology 8, 1534–1548 (2023).
- Wu et al. Galactooligosaccharides and Limosilactobacillus reuteri synergistically alleviate gut inflammation and barrier dysfunction by enriching Bacteroides acidifaciens for pentadecanoic acid biosynthesis. Nature Communications 15:9291 (2024).
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Lowered Drivers of Chronic Disease
C15:0 has been shown to lower clinically-relevant biomarkers of chronic disease, including:
- Lower proinflammatory cytokines, including IL-6, MCP-1, VCAM-1, and PAI-1.
- Decrease proliferation of cancer cells.
- Decrease proliferation of fibroblasts to help slow or stop tissue fibrosis.
- Increase glucose uptake by cells.
- Treat multiple human cell disease systems mimicking inflammation, cardiovascular disease, liver cirrhosis, autoimmune disease, and allergies.
Selected References
- Fu, W.C. et al. Pentadecanoic acid promotes basal and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in C2C12 myotubes. Food Nutr Res 65:10.29219/fnr.v65.4527 (2021).
- Li, Y. et al. Design, synthesis and antitumor activity study of a gemcitabine prodrug conjugated with a HDAC6 inhibitor. Bioorg Med Chem Letters 72:128881 (2022).
- To, N.B., Nguyen, Y.T., Moon, J.Y., Ediriweera, M.K., Cho, S.K. Pentadecanoic acid, an odd-chain fatty acid, suppresses the stemness of MCF-7/SC human breast cancer stem-like cells through JAK2/STAT3 signaling. Nutrients 12:1663 (2020).
- Venn-Watson, S., Lumpkin, R., Dennis, E.A. Efficacy of dietary odd-chain saturated fatty acid pentadecanoic acid parallels broad associated health benefits in humans: could it be essential? Sci Rep 10:8161 (2020).
- Venn-Watson, S.K., Butterworth, C.N. Broder and safer clinically-relevant activities of pentadecanoic acid compared to omega-3: Evaluation of an emerging essential fatty acid across twelve primary human cell-based disease systems. PLOS ONE (2022).
- Venn-Watson et al. Pentadecanoic Acid (C15:0), an Essential Fatty Acid, Shares Clinically Relevant Cell-Based Activities with Leading Longevity-Enhancing Compounds. Nutrients 15, 4607 (2023).
- Venn-Watson et al. The Cellular Stability Hypothesis: Evidence of Ferroptosis and Accelerated Aging-Associated Diseases as Newly Identified Nutritional Pentadecanoic Acid (C15:0) Deficiency Syndrome. Metabolites 14, 355 (2024).
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Produced Active Metabolites
Our bodies use C15:0 to make a metabolite called pentadecanoylcarnitine (or PDC), which has been shown to:
- Activate CB1 and CB2 receptors that regulate mood, sleep, inflammation, and pain.
- Activate 5-HT1A and 5-HT1B receptors that help to lower stress.
- Inhibit H1 and H2 histamine receptors, which helps to treat allergy symptoms.
Selected References
- Venn-Watson, S., Reiner, J., Jensen, E.D. Pentadecanoylcarnitine is a newly discovered endocannabinoid with pleiotropic activities relevant to supporting physical and mental health.Scientific Reports 12:13717 (2022).
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CloseWhole Body Health & Wellness
A strong body of science shows that C15:0 promotes cardiometabolic, immune and liver health, while a key C15:0 metabolite can support mental and cognitive health.
