Lipid Digestion and The Exocrine Pancreas Flashcards
How much of the daily energy requirement do lipids provide?
55%
What do lipids comprise of?
- fats/oils (triglycerides)
- phospholipids
- cholesterol and cholesterol esters
- fatty acids
what are saturated fatty acid chains?
chains consisting of only single bonds so are fully saturated with hydrogen
what are unsaturated fatty acid chains?
chains consisting of one or more double bonds
what are polyunsaturated lipids?
fats containing 2 or more double bonds
are lipids soluble in water and what does this mean for digestion and absorption?
they’re insoluble/poorly soluble in water and this causes issues for digestion and absorption.
What is ‘lingual phase’?
the digestion of lipids in the mouth.
what is the gastric phase?
the digestion of lipids in the stomach.
what happens during lipid digestion in the gastric phase?
- heat and movement mix food with gastric lipase. This begins digestion and emulsification of lipids
- acid pH of gastric environment isn’t helpful for lipid digestion
- hydrolysis initially slow due to largely separate aqueous/lipid interface, rate increasing due to fatty acids produced acting as surfactants.
- emulsified lipids ejected from stomach to duodenum
What happens when the contents from the stomach (chyme) enter the SI?
they stimulate secretin and cholecystokinin secretion.
what does cholecystokinin do?
causes gall bladder contraction and bile release into duodenum and reduces GI motility
what does secretin do?
causes exocrine pancreatic juice secretion e.g.:
- bicarbonate (to neutralise chyme)
- lipases i.e. (pancreatic lipase, choesterol esterase, phospholipases).
What is used to transfer pancreatic juice and bile into the duodenum?
the pancreatic duct at the ampulla of Vater.
How are lipids digested in the SI?
- emulsified into miscelles by hepatic synthesised bile (containing bile salts and Phosphotidylcholine).
- also, pancreatic lipase is aided by bile salts, from the gall bladder, to breakdown lipids from triglycerides to monoglycerides and free fatty acids.
- HCO3- from the pancreatic juice neutralises gastric pH for optimum enzyme activity.
how does pancreatic lipase hydrolyse triglycerides?
it hydrolyses the fatty acids (FA) at the 1 and 3 positions on the triglycerides.
this produces 2-monoacylglycerol and 2 fatty acids.
how does phospholipase A2 breakdown phospholipids?
-it catalyses the hydrolysis of FA at 2-position of glycerophospholipids.
-produces lysophospholipids
(acts as a detergent as aids emulsification and digestion of lipids)
What is the role of bile salts in lipid digestion?
behaves like a detergent by breaking down large lipid droplets into smaller ones, and preventing re-clumping. This increases the surface area for lipase to work on.
what can happen if there are no bile salts secreted into the SI?
- lipid malabsorption-steatorrhoea (fat in faeces)
- secondary vitamin deficiency due to failure to absorb lipid soluble vitamins.
What does it mean by saying bile is amphipathic?
- it has a hydrophilic end, which binds to the surface of the droplet, and
- a hydrophobic end, which adsorbs onto the droplet
The access of lipase to the lipids in the small lipid droplet is blocked by the hydrophobic core of the droplet. How do we overcome this?
- the inactive form of colipase is secreted alongside lipase by the pancreas.
- It is then activated by trypsin in the duodenum and binds to bile salts and lipase allowing lipase to access the tri and diglycerides.
what are the primary products of dietary lipid digestion?
- fatty acids
- cholesterol
- monoglycerides
- lysophospholipids
what are mixed micelles?
- a mixture of all the primary products of lipid digestion with bile salts.
- mixed micelles are smaller than emulsion globules.
where are fat soluble vitamins absorbed from?
they are are packaged and absorbed from mixed micelles
what vitamins are fat soluble?
Vitamins A, D, E, K
where are mixed micelles trapped?
in the brush border of the intestinal mucosa
what process is used to absorb lipid components into the jejunum and ileum mucosa?
passive diffusion
what lipid components are absorbed into the jejunum and ileum mucosa?
- fatty acids
- monoglycerides
- lysophospholipids
- cholesterol
how are short (<6C) and medium (8-12C) chain triglycerides absorbed and hydrolysed?
using the intestinal lipases
why do short and medium chain fatty acids not require bile salts for absorption?
as they don’t need packaging co they enter the portal blood rather than lymph . Then it’s transferred to liver bound to albumin.
what makes up lipoproteins?
triglycerides, cholesterol, phospholipids,
proteins
what is a chylomicron?
a microscopic globule of lipoprotein found in blood and lymph.