University of Management and Technology

Introduction to Lipids Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atif Amin Baig,

Faculty of Medicine,
UniSZA, Malaysia
& Dietary Lipids email: atifamin@unisza.edu.my
 Recalls
1. Introduction to the nucleic acids

2. Nucleotides and nucleosides

3. Nitrogenous bases and their forms

4. Sugars in nucleic acids

5. Phosphate backbone in nucleic acids

6. Properties of nucleic acids

7. Classifications of nucleic acids

8. DNA IDs and future

9. IUPAC and Nomenclature of nucleic acids as per DNA Sequencing

10. Concept of genome, Transcriptome and proteome

11. Structural conformations of nucleic acids

12. Types of RNA

13. Differences between RNA and DNA

 Learning Outcomes
1. What are lipids by definition
2. What are dietary lipids and nutrition status
3. Classification of lipids
4. Saturated and non saturated fats/fatty acids
5. Hydrozable and non hydrozable fats/fatty acids
6. Essential and non essential fats/fatty acids
7. Basic chemistry of fats/lipids
8. Basic chemistry of fatty acids/carboxylic acids
9. Derivation of compound and derived lipids
10.Abnormal lipid concentrations and body response
11.Cholesterol, good and bad lipid.
 Definition of Lipids

Lipids are a large and heterogeneous group of substances of biological

origin that are easily dissolved in organic solvents

❖ Organic solvents incudes methanol, acetone, chloroform, and benzene, etc,.

❖ By contrast, they are either insoluble or only poorly soluble in water.
❖ Their low water solubility is due to a lack of polarizing atoms such as O, N, S, and P
 Dietary Lipids

Pete was glad to finally be home. He’d been gone since 8 o’clock this morning - first to classes all day
and then straight to his job. Now it was 8 pm. He walked into his apartment and threw his backpack on
the floor. Whew! He was tired and hungry! He found some hot pockets in the freezer and threw two in
the microwave before he slumped on the couch and turned on the TV.

Another one of those annoying drug company commercials! This one was about some drug called
VytorinTM.

As the microwave beeped that his dinner was ready, Pete watched the commercial and laughed at all of
the people who resembled what they ate. He wondered….do I look like a Hot Pocket?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBfWybm0218 or search on Youtube for “Vytorin Ad”

As Pete wolfed down his dinner, he
was curious. How much cholesterol
was in a hot pocket anyway?

He grabbed the box from the trash

can and read the nutrition label on
the back.
❖ Q: How much cholesterol was in Pete’s dinner?

A. 25 milligrams

B. 50 milligrams

C. 6 grams

D. 13 grams
❖ Whoa! After reading the package, Pete realized that only one
hot pocket is considered a serving so he had eaten 620
calories for dinner! Not to mention 50 mg of cholesterol.
Although he had no idea if this was high or not, he figured it
couldn’t be too good or there wouldn’t be a need for a “Lean
Pocket”!

❖ He decided to research cholesterol levels on the internet. He

was not even sure what cholesterol was to begin with. He
also wondered: what should a normal person’s cholesterol
level be? Did he have high cholesterol? Nah, he reasoned.
How could I? I’m too young.
❖ Q: What percent of your average daily food intake is
fresh fruits and/or vegetables?

A. 0%
B. 10%
C. 25 %
D. 50% or greater
❖ Q: What percentage of your average daily food
intake is lipids?

❖ A. 0%
❖ B. 10%
❖ C. 25 %
❖ D. 50% or greater
❖ After a quick Google search, Pete found the following
information:
“The American Heart Association and the United States Department of Agriculture
recommend that you limit your fat intake to no more than 30% of your daily calories.
Of that 30%, 10% or less of the fat calories should come from saturated fat. One
gram of fat = 9 calories.”

❖ Fat? Saturated fat? Are these different than cholesterol?

❖ Pete kept searching….
❖ Pete normally consumes ~ 2000 calories per day. What %
of his total daily caloric intake is coming from the two Hot
Pockets? What % of his total daily calories is coming from
the fat in his two Hot Pockets?

A. ~ 30%; 5%
B. ~ 30 %; 11%
C. ~ 50 %; 20%
D. ~ 60 %; 11%

Is Pete meeting AHA recommended guidelines for fat

consumption?
(…limit your fat intake to no more than 30% of your daily
calories…)
 What was found?
❖ Lipids are the group of biological macromolecules that have a major
hydrocarbon component and are mostly nonpolar and hydrophobic.

❖ Functionally, lipids are important in cell membrane structure and in

energy production.

❖ There are three main families of lipids in humans beside other types:

❖ Steroids

❖ Fats

❖ Phospholipids
 Sterols

❖ Typically have a core

structure of four fused
carbon rings
❖ Cholesterol is an
example.
❖ Many hormones and
vitamins are steroids.
 Classification of lipids

❖ Based on:
❖ Structure (Simple, compound & derived)
❖ Hydrolysis
❖ Essential and non-essential lipids
❖ Presence of double bonds
Classification of Lipids Based on Structure
Classification of lipids Based on Structure
 Hydrolyzable and Non-hydrolyzable lipids

Hydrolyzable lipids (components shown in brackets).

The simple esters include the fats (triacylglycerol; one
glycerol + three acyl residues); the waxes (one fatty
alcohol + one acyl residue); and the sterol esters (one
sterol + one acyl residue). The phospholipids are esters
with more complex structures. Their characteristic
component is a phosphate residue. The phospholipids
include the phosphatidic acids (one glycerol + two acyl
residues + one phosphate) and the phosphatides (one
glycerol + two acyl residues + one phosphate + one
amino alcohol). In the sphingolipids, glycerol and one
acyl residue are replaced by sphingosine. Particularly
important in this group are the sugar-containing
glycolipids (one sphingosine + one fatty acid + sugar).
The cerebrosides (one sphingosine + one fatty acid +
one sugar) and gangliosides (one sphingosine + one
fatty acid + several different sugars, including
neuraminic acid) are representatives of this group.

The components of the hydrolyzable lipids are linked to

one another by ester bonds. They are easily broken
down either enzymatically or chemically.

Non-hydrolyzable lipids. The hydrocarbons include

the alkanes and carotenoids. The lipid alcohols are also
not hydrolyzable. They include long chained alkanols
and cyclic sterols such as cholesterol, and steroids such
as estradiol and testosterone. The most important acids
among the lipids are fatty acids. The eicosanoids also
belong to this group; these
 Essential and Non Essential Lipids

❖ Essential fatty acids are fatty acids that have to be supplied in the diet.
❖ Without exception, these are all polyunsaturated fatty acids.
❖ They include:
1. C20 fatty acid arachidonic acid (20:4;5,8,11,14).
2. C18 acid linoleic acid (18:2;9,12) and
3. C18 acid linolenic acid (18:3;9,12,15).
❖ The animal organism requires arachidonic acid to synthesize eicosanoids.

• As the organism is capable of elongating fatty acids by adding C2 units, but is not able to introduce double bonds
into the end sections of fatty acids (after C-9), arachidonic acid has to be supplied with the diet. Linoleic and
linolenic acid can be converted into arachidonic acid by elongation, and they can therefore replace arachidonic acid
in the diet.
 Essential and Non-essential Lipids

Several lipids are not formed independently

in the human body.
These substances, as essential fatty acids
and fat-soluble vitamins, are indispensable
components of nutrition
 Double Bonds and Classification of Lipids

❖ Some fatty acids inside the fats contain double bonds and they are called Unsaturated Fatty Acids or the
fat will be called unsaturated fat/lipid.
❖ The fatty acids which have no double bonds are called saturated fatty acids or the fat will be called
saturated fat/ lipid.
❖ If a fatty acid contains more than one double bond, its called a polyunsaturated fatty acid or a fat will be
called polyunsaturated fat/lipid.
❖ A shorthand notation with several numbers is used for precise characterisation of the structure of fatty
acids, e g., 18:2;9,12 for linoleic acid.

• The first figure stands for the number of C atoms, while the second gives the number of double bonds.
• The positions of the double bonds follow after the semicolon. As usual, numbering starts at the carbon with the highest oxidation state (i.e., the
carboxyl group corresponds to C-1).
• Greek letters are also commonly used( =C-2;=C-3; =the last carbon,  -3 = the third last carbon).
 Saturated and Unsaturated Fats

❖ Saturated fat
Animal oil like meat, milk, butter
Vegetable oil like coconut and palm kernel oil

❖ Polyunsaturated fat
Plan source like safflower, corn, cottonseed, sunflower oil and soybean oil

❖ Monounsaturated fat
Plant and animal product like olive oil, canola oil, avocado and peanut oil
 Roles & Functions of Lipids

❖ Lipids act as a fuel

❖ Lipids act as a nutrient
❖ Lipids act as an insulator
❖ Lipids acts as special task agents
 Lipids as Fuel

❖ Lipids are an important source of energy in the diet.

❖ In quantitative terms, they represent the principal energy
reserve in animals.
❖ Neutral fats in particular are stored in specialized cells,
known as adipocytes.
❖ Fatty acids are released from these again as needed, and
these are then oxidized in the mitochondria to form water
and carbon dioxide, with oxygen being consumed.
❖ This process also gives rise to reduced coenzymes, which are
used for ATP production in the respiratory chain
 Lipids as Nutrient

❖ Amphipathic lipids are used by cells to build

membranes.
❖ Typical membrane lipids include phospholipids,
glycolipids, and cholesterol.
❖ Fats are only weakly amphiphilic and are therefore
not suitable as membrane components.

Amphiphile (from the Greek αμφις, amphis: both and φιλíα, philia: love, friendship) is a
term describing a chemical compound possessing both hydrophilic (water-loving, polar)
and lipophilic (fat-loving) properties. Such a compound is called amphiphilic or
amphipathic.
 Lipids as Insulators

❖ Lipids are excellent insulators.

❖ In the higher animals, neutral fats are found in the
subcutaneous tissue and around various organs, where
they serve as mechanical and thermal insulators.
❖ As the principal constituent of cell membranes, lipids
also insulate cells from their environment mechanically
and electrically.
❖ The impermeability of lipid membranes to ions allows
the formation of the membrane potential
 Lipids for Special Tasks
❖ Some lipids have adopted special roles in the
body.
❖ Steroids, eicosanoids, and some metabolites of
phospholipids have signaling functions.
❖ They serve as hormones, mediators, and second
messengers.
❖ Other lipids form anchors to attach proteins to
membranes.
❖ The lipids also produce cofactors for enzymatic
reaction, e. g., vitamin K and ubiquinone.
❖ The carotenoid retinal, a light-sensitive lipid, is
of central importance in the process of vision
 Fatty Acids/Carboxylic Acids

❖ The naturally occurring fatty acids are carboxylic acids.

❖ They have unbranched hydrocarbon chains of 4–24 carbon atoms.
❖ They are present in all organisms as components of fats and membrane lipids.
❖ In these compounds, they are esterified with alcohols (glycerol, sphingosine, or cholesterol).
❖ However, fatty acids are also found in small amounts in unesterified form.
❖ In this case, they are known as free fatty acids (FFAs).
❖ As free fatty acids have strongly amphipathic properties, they are usually present in protein-
bound forms.
In the vertebrates, biosynthesis of fatty
acids is catalyzed by fatty acid synthase,
a multifunctional enzyme. Located in the
cytoplasm, the enzyme requires acetyl
CoA as a starter molecule. In a cyclic
reaction, the acetyl residue is elongated
by one C2 unit at a time for seven cycles.
NADPH+H+ is used as a reducing agent
in the process. The end product of the
reaction is the saturated C16 acid, palmitic
acid.
 Structure of Fats/Lipids
As triacylglycerols are
uncharged, they are also referred
to as neutral fats.

The carbon atoms of glycerol are

not usually equivalent in fats.
They are distinguished by their
“sn” number, where sn stands for
“stereospecific numbering.”

The length of the fatty acid

residues and the number of their
double bonds affect the melting
point of the fats. The shorter the
fatty acid residues and the more
double bonds they contain, the
lower their melting points.

Fats are esters of the trivalent alcohol glycerol with three fatty acids. When a single fatty
acid is esterified with glycerol, the product is referred to as a monoacylglycerol (fatty acid
residue = acyl residue).
 Assignments
❖ What are second messenger? Lipids as second messengers?

❖ Sphingolipids.

❖ Pick any soft drink in the market and write about its nutritional status with
respect to fats (Make sure, it must not match with other students, 1 group
= max 3 students)

❖ [submit the names of your group and drink to the CR by Thursday, all
CRs will have a meeting and they will check any duplications]

❖ Decrease your Fats

Decrease your Fats
Thank You