Activity No. 5. LIPIDS
Activity No. 5. LIPIDS
Activity No. 5. LIPIDS
LIPIDS
Answer the following questions:
Lipids is a heterogeneous class of naturally occurring organic compounds classified together on the basis
of common solubility properties.
Lipids are water-insoluble substances. It is classified into four groups: fats (triglycerides); complex lipids;
steroids; and prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes.
Fats consist of 3 fatty acids and glycerol. In saturated fatty acids, the hydrocarbon chains have only single
bonds; unsaturated fatty acids have hydrocarbon chains with one or more double bonds.
Triglycerides rich in unsaturated fatty acids are generally liquid at room temperature and are called oils
Triglycerides rich in saturated fatty acids are generally semisolids or solids at room temperature and are
called fats.
The alkali salts of fatty acids are called soaps.
Complex lipids can be classified into two groups: phospholipids and glycolipids.
Phospholipids are made of a central alcohol (glycerol or sphingosine).
Glycolipids contain sphingosine and a fatty acid, collectively known as the ceramide portion of
the molecule, and a carbohydrate portion.
Glycerophospholipids are the second most abundant group of naturally occurring lipids. It is also called
phosphoglycerides. Glycerophospholipids are complex lipids that consist of a central glycerol moiety to
which two fatty acids are esterified.
Sphinogolipids are complex lipids that consist of the long-chain alcohol sphingosine esterified to a fatty
acid (the ceramide moiety). It is the most important lipids in the myelin sheaths of nerve cells.
8. What are glycolipids?
Glycolipids are complex lipids that consist of two parts: a ceramide portion and a carbohydrate portion.
The third major group of lipids comprises the steroids. A group of plant and animal lipids that have this
tetracyclic ring structure. The most common steroid, cholesterol, serves as a starting material for the
synthesis of other steroids, such as bile salts and sex and other hormones.
An oxidation product of cholesterol is progesterone, a sex hormone. It also gives rise to the synthesis of
other sex hormones, such as testosterone and estradiol.
Progesterone is also a precursor of the adrenocorticoid hormones. Within this group, cortisol and
cortisone are best known for their anti-inflammatory action.
11. Define the following : bile salts, thromboxanes, prostaglandins and leukotrienes.
Bile salts, the oxidation products of cholesterol. Synthesized in the liver, stored in the gallbladder, and
secreted into the intestine where they emulsify dietary fats and aid in their absorption and digestion .
Prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes are derived from arachidonic acid. They have a wide
variety of effects on body chemistry. Among other things, they can lower or raise blood pressure, cause
inflammation and blood clotting, and induce labor. In general, they mediate hormone action.
Prostaglandins are not stored in tissues as such, but are synthesized from membrane-bound 20-
carbon polyunsaturated fatty acids in response to specific physiological triggers.
Thromboxanes induces platelet aggregation and vasoconstriction.
Leukotrienes occur mainly in leukocytes. They produce muscle contractions, especially in the
lungs and thereby can cause asthma-like attacks.