Dietary composition and metabolism of fatty acids (FA) influence insulin resistance, atherogenic dyslipidemia and other components of the metabolic syndrome (MS). It is known that patients with MS exhibit a heterogeneous phenotype; however, the relationships of individual FA to MS components have not yet been consistently studied. We examined the plasma phosphatidylcholine FA composition of 166 individuals (68F/98M) with MS and of 188 (87F/101M) controls. Cluster analysis of FA divided the groups into two clusters. In cluster 1, there were 65.7 % of MS patients and 37.8 % of controls, cluster 2 contained 34.3 % of patients and 62.2 % of controls (P<0.001). Those with MS within cluster 1 (MS1) differed from individuals with MS in cluster 2 (MS2) by concentrations of glucose (P<0.05), NEFA (P<0.001), HOMA-IR (P<0.05), and levels of conjugated dienes in LDL (P<0.05). The FA composition in MS1 group differed from MS2 by higher contents of palmitoleic (+30 %), γ-linolenic (+22 %), dihomo-γ-linolenic (+9 %) acids and by a lower content of linoleic acid (–25 %) (all P<0.01). These FA patterns are supposed to be connected with the progression and/or impaired biochemical measures of MS (lipolysis, oxidative stress, dysglycidemia, and insulin resistance)., A. Žák, M. burda, M. Vecka, M. Zeman, E. Tvrzická, B. Staňková., and Obsahuje bibliografii