TLR4 and metabolic syndrome: While most even-chain SFAs are generally considered to be pro-inflammatory in metabolic syndromes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD), due to their ability to induce dimerization and recruitment of Toll-like receptor 4 into lipid rafts30, recent studies have reported that odd-chain SFAs including pentadecylic acid and heptadecanoic acid (C17:0) demonstrate an inverse association with the risk of developing CVD and type II diabetes31, 32.