Reviews : Bioactive Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) in Milk

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) isomers are found naturally in foods, such as milk, milk products, beef and others, from biohydrogenation of vegetable oils. They are heterogenous group of isomers of linoleic acid in the family of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Among the isomers of linoleic acid cis9, trans11- CLA (c9, t11-CLA) and trans10, cis12- CLA (t10, c12-CLA) are found to be biologically active isomers. These biologically active isomers either individual or combined found to be health beneficial in various diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, obesity, and atherosclerosis, conclusive participation in physiological processes are necessary. This review focused on the current study of CLA in prevention of disease, such as cancer, diabetes and atherosclerosis, and their effective function in body fat reduction, improvement of bone and muscle mass at a cellular, clinical and systematic level.