Cholesterol mixed micelles

FIGURE 3 Effect of the amount of cholesterol on the particle size. Phosphatidylcholine/cholesterol liposomes were prepared by the octyl glucoside dilution technique. The begin concentration of the mixed micelles was 150 mM octyl glucoside and 10 mM phosphatidylcholine in 10 mM tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane and 0.9% NaCl, pH 7.4. Dilution was performed with an automatic titration unit at a dilution rate (= dilution factor, relative to the initial volume, per unit of time) of 0.026 sec"l ( a and ) or 0.69 sec l ( and o). Mean diameters after dilution and ) and after filtration ( L and q) are repi sented. (Adapted from Jiskoot et al, 1986a.)... 

Irrespective of the physical form of the carotenoid in the plant tissue it needs to be dissolved directly into the bulk lipid phase (emulsion) and then into the mixed micelles formed from the emulsion droplets by the action of lipases and bile. Alternatively it can dissolve directly into the mixed micelles. The micelles then diffuse through the unstirred water layer covering the brush border of the enterocytes and dissociate, and the components are then absorbed. Although lipid absorption at this point is essentially complete, bile salts and sterols (cholesterol) may not be fully absorbed and are not wholly recovered more distally, some being lost into the large intestine. It is not known whether carotenoids incorporated into mixed micelles are fully or only partially absorbed. 

About 1 g of cholesterol is ingested by adults each day in developed countries. A similar amount enters the lumen via the bile, synthesised from acetyl-CoA in the liver, is also released from sloughed epithelial cells. Absorption of cholesterol also occurs from the mixed micelles. Within the enterocyte, it is esterified and the cholesterol ester is incorporated into the chylomicrons. 

Figure 2.2 Secretion of bile acids and biliary components. Bile acids (BA) cross the hepatocyte bound to 3a-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and are exported into the canaliculus by the bile-salt export protein (BSEP). Phosphatidylcholine (PC) from the inner leaflet of the apical membrane is flipped to the outer layer and interacts with bile acids secreted by BSEP. BA, PC, together with cholesterol from the membrane form mixed micelles that are not toxic to epithelial membranes of the biliary tree. Aquaporins (AQP) secrete water into bile.

The mixed micelles contain predominantly FFAs, 2-monoacylglycerols, and unesterified cholesterol in addition to other fat-soluble compounds, such as the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. 

The products of lipid digestion—free fatty acids, 2-monoacylglycerol, and cholesterol—plus bile salts, form mixed micelles that are able to cross the unstirred water layer on the surface of the brush border membrane. Individual lipids enter the intestinal mucosal cell cytosol. 

Cohen, D.E. and Carey, M.C. 1991. Acyl chain unsaturation modulates distribution of lecithin molecular species between mixed micelles and vesicles in model bile. Implications for particle structure and metastable cholesterol solubilities. J. Lipid Res. 32, 1291-1302. 

Mel nikov, S.M., Seijen ten Hoorn, J.W., and Eijkelenboom, A.P. 2004a. Effect of phytosterols and phytostanols on the solubilization of cholesterol by dietary mixed micelles An in vitro study. Chem. Phys. Lipids 127, 121-141. 

Vahouny, G.V., Tombes, R., Cassidy, M.M., Kritchevsky, D., and Gallo, L.L. 1980. Dietary fibers. V. Binding of bile salts, phospholipids and cholesterol from mixed micelles by bile acid sequestrants and dietary fibers. Lipids 15, 1012-1018. 

In summary, triacylglycerols from the diet are digested by lipase and associate with bile salts into mixed micelles. The free fatty acids are absorbed by the cells of the small intestine, from which they are transported via the lymph system to the liver. From the liver, they are released as apolipoproteins in the circulation, carrying fatty acids and cholesterol to the cells throughout the body. 

Bile salts are produced in the liver and secreted into the intestinal lumen forming mixed micelles with lecithin, monoglycerides, fatty adds and cholesterol. Because... 

Cholesterol does not form micelles because (1) it is not amphiphilic and (2) its flat, rigid, fused-ring structure gives a solid rather than a liquid, mobile hydrocarbon phase necessary for micellar formation. Cholesterol forms mixed micelles with amphiphilic lipids and will enter monolayers. 

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