Fats Flashcards
What are the 3 types of dietary fats?
Triglycerides (95% of fat)
Phospholipids
Sterols (5% of fats with phospho.)
What are the 3 fatty acid families
Saturated
MONO-unsaturated
POLY-unsaturated
Which fatty acid has double bonds?
unsaturated
Triglycerides
glycerol + 3 fatty acids
glycerol is the 3-carbon backbone of triglycerides that holds the fatty acids together
Phospholipids
Glycerol + 2 fatty acids + phosphorous
phosphorous makes the phospholipid water soluble, so they emulsify fat
responsible for cell membrane structure
Sterols
large complicated molecules, interconnected rings
form bile, vitamin d, steroid hormones, and cholesterol
Saturated fats
animal fats
exception: tropical plant fats (pam kernel oil, coconut oil)
Unsaturated fats
plants!
exception: Fish.
Where do we get the majority of our total saturated fat?
Animal sources, and junk food (ice cream, cakes, cookies)
Mouth’s role in digestion of lipid
TRIVIAL
Stomach role in lipid digestion
fat floats, which delays gastric emptying
Small Intestine role in lipid digestion
In the SI, fat is emulsified by BILE
Where is bile stored
GALLBLADDER
Where is bile made
LIVER
What happens to emulsified fats
Lipases from the pancreas break the fats into glycerol, individual fatty acids, and monoglycerides
Does anything break up triglycerides and phospholipids?
YES. Intestinal lipases similiar to pancreatic lipases.
How are small digested lipid products absorbed?
Small products can go directly into the blood stream and are taken to the liver
How are large digested lipid products absorbed?
Larger products are reformed into triglycerides, and incorporated into CHYLOMICRONS and go into the lymph system
Describe the structure of lipoproteins
Surface: Phospholipids with embedded proteins
Core: Cholesterol and Triglycerides.
What are the 4 types of lipoprotein?
- Chylomicron
- vLDL
- LDL
- HDL
Describe the relative composition difference between LDL and HDL
LDL: is low-density lipoprotein, and it has more lipid and less protein.
HDL: is high-density lipoprotein, and it has more protein and less lipid.
What is the absolute composition difference between LDL and HDL
HDL has less of everything per particle.
How long do chylomicrons spend circulating in the blood?
Minutes
Describe chylomicron process
Created in intestines, secreted into blood through subclavian vein, drops of triglycerides in adipose tissues, muscle. Eventually, chylomicron remnant with just dietary cholesterol goes back to liver.
What happens to chylomicron remnants in the liver?
It’s broken down.
vLDL circulation process
Same as chylomicron, but some gets cleared by the liver. Some that continues to lose TG and surface protein is then converted to LDL.
How long does vLDL circulation take
MINUTES.
Why do Chylomicron and vLDL get cleared so quickly from the blood? (within minutes)
They have a very effective protein on their surface (apolipoprotein E) that activates a receptor on cells.
When vLDL becomes an LDL, the effective protein (apo E) is lost which is why
LDL takes DAYS to circulate in the blood.
only apolipoprotein B is still with LDL and it only weakly activates cell receptors.
Where does a lot of the LDL go?
to the liver! receptors for LDL work slowly on LDL.
What happens when LDL particles work their way into the lining of blood vessels
Cholesterol contributes to PLAQUES in the arteries that create blockages, and eventually lead to heart disease
Try to describe how HDL particle gets formed
Gets protein from the liver, and cholesterol from cells all over the body.
What does HDL do? Describe reverse cholesterol transport
HDL particle delivers cholesterol FROM the cells of the body TO the liver.
Then it goes back for more.