WHAT ARE DIETARY LIPIDS?

Dietary lipids refers to the fats and oils(triacylglycerides or TAG), phospholipids, and
sterols found naturally in animal and plant foods, and those used in cooking, at the
table, and added to processed foods.

Lipids in the diet transport the four fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E, and K) and
assist in their absorption in the small intestine.

Functions of Dietary Lipids

Regulating and Signaling
 adipose tissue secretes the hormone leptin, which regulates appetite
 omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids help regulate cholesterol and blood
clotting and control inflammation in the joints, tissues, and bloodstream
 insulate neurons, and facilitate the signaling of electrical impulses throughout the
brain.

Storing Energy
 provide energy for living organisms - providing more than twice the energy
content compared with carbohydrates and proteins on a weight basis

Lipid Digestion and Absorption

- mouth and stomach play a small role in the digestive process
-Most enzymatic digestion happens in small intestine
- the product of lipid digestion are absorbed into circulation and transport around the
body

EVENTS THAT OCCUR HOW TRIACYLGLYCEROL (TAG) CAN REACH

THE BLOODSTREAM THROUGH THE DIGESTIVE
1.LIPID DIGESTION IN THE MOUTH
 Starts in the mouth
 lingual lipase enzyme is produced by cells on the tongue and begins some
enzymatic digestion of triglycerides, cleaving individual fatty acids from the
glycerol backbone
2.LIPID DIGESTION IN THE STOMACH (MAJOR CHANGES IN TAG)
 stomach produce another lipase, called gastric lipase enzyme that also contributes
to enzymatic digestion of TAG
 Churned into droplets - CHYME
 CHURNING is the stomach action of breaiding TAG materials into small globules
or droplets which float as a layer above the other components of swallowed foods
which results into the production of a semi-liquid materials called CHYME.
3. LIPID DIGESTION IN THE SMALL INTESTINE
 Cholecystokinin (CCK) releases bile.
 most of the dietary lipids are undigested and clustered in large droplets as it enters
the small intestine
 chyme stimulates the hormone cholecystokinin (CCK) to release bile from
gallbladder
Bile solubilizes the large droplets
 bile, which is made in the liver and stored in the gallbladder, is released into the
duodenum, the first section of the small intestine
 contains cholesterol, water, bile acids, and the pigment bilirubin.
 bile salts are effective emulsifiers (they break large fat globules into smaller
droplets) which have both a hydrophobic and a hydrophilic side, so they are
attracted to both fats and water
 Emulsification makes lipids more accessible to digestive enzymes by increasing
the surface area for them to act.
Hydrolysis of TAG
 Pancreatic lipases (PL) hydrolyzes ester linkages between glycerol and fatty units
of TAGs.
 TAGs are partially hydrolyzed: 2 of the 3 fatty acids have ester linkages hydrolyzed
and are released.
 With the help of bile, the free fatty acids and monoacylglycerols produced from
hydrolysis are combined into tiny spherical droplets called micelles.
 Fatty acid micelle: is a hydrophobic micelle in which fatty acids &
monoacylglycerols are in the interior while bile salts on exterior
4. MICELLES "REPACKAGED" INTO TAGS WHICH FORMS
CHYLOMICRONS LIPID ABSORPTION FROM THE SMALL INTESTINE
 Within the intestinal cells, a "repackaging" occurs in which free fatty acids and
monoacylglycerides are reassembled into triacylglyceride.
 The new TAGs are combined with membrane lipids (phospholipids and
cholesterol) & water soluble proteins to form a chylomicron, a lipoprotein.
 Chylomicrons carry TAGs from intestinal cells into bloodstream via the lymphatic
system.
5. CHYLOMICRONS ENTER THE LYMPHATIC SYSTEM
 Chylomicrons are too large to pass through the capillary walls directly into the
bloodstream, thus it enter through the lymphatic system.
6. CHYLOMICRONS ENTER THE BLOODSTREAM
 Chylomicrons enter the blood stream through thoracic duct (just below the collar
bone), where the fluid of the lymphatic system flows into the vein, joining the
bloodstream.

Triacyglyceride Storage and Mobilization

 Storage of triacylglycerol is in Adipose
 Triacylglycerol is hydrolyzed to release Fatty acid when needed

Adipocytes
 are found mostly in the abdominal cavity and subcutaneous tissue store energy,
insulation against heat loss, shock absorber for organs are metabolically very
 active: triacylglycerol constantly hydrolyzed & re-synthesized

The TAG droplet accounts for nearly the volume of the cell.
 As newly formed TAGs are imported into an adipose cell, they form small droplets
at the periphery of the cell that later merge with the large central droplets.
 Use of TAG stored in the adipose tissue for energy production is triggered by
several hormones, including glucagon and epinephrine.
 Hormonal interaction with adipose cell membrane receptors stimulates the
production of cAMP from ATP inside the adipose cell.
 The cAMP activates hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) through phosphorylation.
 HSL is the lipase needed for TAG hydrolysis, a prerequisite for fatty acid to enter
the bloodstream from an adipose cell.

TAGs hydrolyzed a 3rd time to form fatty acids.

Triacylglycerol lipase
Diacyclglycerol lipase
Monoacylglycerol lipase
Only triacylglycerol lipase is activated by epinephrine.

 TriacyIglyceride mobilization is the hydrolysis of triacylelycerides stored in the

adipose tissue, followed by the release into bloodstream of the fatty acids and
glycerol so produced.

GLYCEROL METABOLISM
 One glycerol for each TAG hydrolyzed
 Enter bloodstream, go to liver or kidney for processing
 Use one atp
 Reduces ine nad+ to nadh
 Primary hydroxyl group is phosphorylated oxidized to form ketone

 Glycolysis- converted to Pyruvate-acetyl CoA-Co2, releasing its energy.

 Gluconeogenesis- creates glucose from non-carbohydrate source
Lipid metabolism & carbohydrate metabolism are connected
 Sterols- are structural lipids present in the membranes of most eukaryotic cells
 cholesterol, a sterol consist of a rigid steroid nucleus containing four fused rings,
an alkyl side chain of 8 carbons, and a sole hydrophilic hydroxyl group attached to
C-3 of ring A
 steroid nucleus is nearly planar, and the molecule packs well with the acyl chains
of membrane glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids
 Not found in plant oils
 Length is similar to 16-carbon fatty acid in its extended form.

Sterol Derivative: Bile acids

 serve as precursors for a variety of products with specific biological functions.
 potent biological signaling molecules that regulate gene expression
 vitamin D, which helps regulate calcium metabolism, is also derived from
cholesterol
 bile acids (e.g., taurocholic acid, see below) are polar derivatives of cholesterol
made in the liver, that act as detergents in the intestine, emulsifying dietary fats to
make them more accessible to digestive enzymes

Cholesterol plays has a role in membrane fluidity but it's most important function is in
reducing the permeability of the cell membrane. Cholesterol helps to restrict the
passage of molecules by increasing the packing of phospholipids.
Cholesterol is insoluble in water, hence to transport it through the bloodstream, our
bodies wrap it in a sheath of proteins and varying amounts of triglycerides to form
lipoproteins.
 High Density Lipoproteins (HDL's) transport excess cholesterol to the liver for
disposal "good cholesterol"
 LDL's (Low Density Lipoproteins) and VLDL's tend to deposit cholesterol on
arterial walls "bad cholesterol"
 The pathway leading to cholesterol is known as the isoprenoid pathway and
branches of it lead to other molecules including other fat-soluble vitamin

Steps Involved in the Biosynthesis of Cholesterol

1.Mevalonate gets phosphorylated twice and then decarboxylated to yield the five
carbon intermediate known as isopentenyl-pyrophosphate (IPP).
2. IPP is readily converted to dimethylallyIpyrophosphate
(DMAPP).
3. These two five carbon compounds, also called isoprenes, are the building blocks
for the synthesis of cholesterol and related compounds.
The pathway is known as the isoprenoid pathway. It proceeds in the direction of
cholesterol starting with the joining of IPP and DMAPP to form
geranyl-pyrophosphate.

Branching of Cholesterol
 Branching from cholesterol, one can form Vitamin D or the steroid hormones,
which include the progestagens, androgens, estrogens, mineralocorticoids, and the
glucocorticoids.
 The branch molecule for all of these is the cholesterol metabolite (and progestagen)
known as pregnenalone.
 The progestagens are precursors of all of the other classes.