GLYCEROL METABOLISM

TAN
PANTALEON
DELLOSA
LANUZA
Digestion and Absorption of Lipids

Triacylglycerols (TAGs)
• 98% of total dietarylipids are triacylglycerols
• Insoluble in water
• Major change that TAGs undergo in the stomach is
physical rather than chemical.

Chyme- The churning action of the stomach breaks

up triacylglycerol materials into small globules, or
droplets, which float as a layer above the other
components of swallowed food.
• Lipid digestion also begins in the stomach. Under
the action of gastric lipase enzymes, hydrolysis of
TAGs occurs.
• The arrival of chyme from the stomach triggers in
the small intestine, through the action of the
hormone cholecystokinin, the release of bile stored
in the gallbladder.
• Colloid particle formation through bile
emulsification “solubilizes” the triacylglycerol
globules, and digestion of the TAGs resumes. The
major enzymes involved at this point are the
pancreatic lipases, which hydrolyze ester linkages
between the glycerol and fatty acid units of the
TAGs.
• . Complete hydrolysis does not usually occur; only
two of the three fatty acid units are liberated,
producing a monoacylglycerol and two free fatty
acids. Occasionally, enzymes remove all three fatty
acid units, leaving a free glycerol molecule
Fatty acid micelle is a micelle in which fatty acids
and/or monoacylglycerols and some bile are present.

Micelles, containing free fatty acid and

monoacylglycerol components, are small
enough to be readily absorbed through the
membranes of intestinal cells.
Chylomicron is a lipoprotein that transports
triacylglycerols from intestinal cells, via the lymphatic
system, to the bloodstream.

The delivery of the chylomicrons to

the bloodstream is accomplished
through the body’s lymphatic
system.
• Once the chylomicrons reach the bloodstream, the
TAGs they carry are again hydro-lyzed to produce
glycerol and free fatty acids.

Lipoprotein lipases
• TAG release from chylomicrons and their ensuing
hydrolysis is mediated by lipoprotein lipases.
• The fatty acid and glycerol hydrolysis products from
TAG hydrolysis are absorbed by the cells of the
body and are either broken down to acetyl CoA for
energy or stored as lipids (they are again
repackaged as TAGs).
Summary of events that must occur before
triacyglycerols (TAGs) can reach the
bloodstream through the digestive process.
 Triglyceride Storage & Mobilization

Storage of triacylglycerol is in adipocytes

Fatty acids stored primarily as triacylglycerol.

Most cells in the body have

limited capability for storage of
TAGs. However, this activity is
the major function of
specialized cells called
adipocytes, found in adipose
tissue. An adipocyte is a
triacylglycerol-storing cell.
Adipose tissue is tissue that
contains large numbers of
adipocyte cells.
Adipose tissue is located primarily
directly beneath the skin (subcutaneous),
par-ticularly in the abdominal region, and
in areas around vital organs. Besides its
function as a storage location for the
chemical energy inherent in TAGs,
subcutaneous adipose tissue also serves as
an insulator against excessive heat loss to
the environment and provides organs
with protection against physical shock.
Adipose cells are among the largest cells in the body.
They differ from other cells in that most of the
cytoplasm has been replaced with a large
triacylglycerol droplet .

This droplet accounts for nearly the

entire 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 droplet.
• Use of the TAGs stored in adipose tissue for energy
production is triggered by several hormones,
including epinephrine and glucagon.

• Hormonal interaction with adipose cell membrane

receptors stimulates production of cAMP from ATP
inside the adipose cell. In a series of enzymatic
reactions, the cAMP activates hormone-sensitive
lipase (HSL)through phosphorylation. HSL is the
lipase needed for triacylglycerol hydrolysis, a
prerequisite for fatty acids to enter the bloodstream
from an adipose cell.
• The overall process of tapping the body’s
triacylglycerol energy reserves (adipose tissue) for
energy is called triacylglycerol mobilization.
• Triacylglycerol mobilization is the hydrolysis of
triacylglycerols stored in adipose tissue, followed by
release into the bloodstream of the fatty acids and
glycerol so produced.

• Triacylglycerol mobilization is an ongoing process.

On the average, about 10% of the TAGs in adipose
tissue are replaced daily by new triacylglycerol
molecules.
 Glycerol Metabolism

• During triacylglycerol mobilization, one molecule

of glycerol is produced for each triacylglycerol
completely hydrolyzed.

• After entering the bloodstream, glycerol travels

to the liver or kidneys, where it is converted, in a
two-step process, to dihydroxyacetone
phosphate.
• The first step involves phosphorylation of a
primary hydroxyl group of the glycerol.

• In the second step, glycerol’s secondary alcohol

group (C-2) is oxidized to a ketone.
The following equation represents the overall reaction for the

metabolism of glycerol.
Dihydroxyacetone phosphate is an intermediate
for both:

Glycolysis: converted to Pyruvate, then to

Acetyl CoA, and eventually to CO2, releasing its
energy.

Gluconeogenesis: creates Glucose from non-

carbohydrate source.