Dietary lipids digestion

Digestion of dietary lipids Dietary lipids DIGESTION OF DIETARY LIPIDS (p. 171) Dietary lipids consist primarily of triacylglycerol, with some cholesterol, cholesteryl esters, phospholipids, and free (nonesterified) fatty acids. 

Note The role of lingual lipase in the digestion of dietary lipids is minor because it accounts for less than 10% of the enzymatic breakdown of triglycerides. 

Bile acids aid in the digestion of dietary lipids. They are made in the liver and secreted into the small intestine in the bile where they emulsify lipids. 

FIGURE 17-1 Processing of dietary lipids in vertebrates Digestion and absorption of dietary lipids occur in the small intestine, and the fatty acids released from triacylglycerols are packaged and delivered to muscle and adipose tissues. The eight steps are discussed in the text. 

II. DIGESTION, ABSORPTION, SECRETION, AND UTILIZATION OF DIETARY LIPIDS ... 

An adult ingests about 60 to 150 g of lipids per day, of which more than n nety percent is normally triacylglycerol (formerly called triglyceride). Uhe remainder of the dietary lipids consists primarily of cholesterol, cholesteryl esters, phospholipids, and unesterified ("free") fatty acids. "The digestion of dietary lipids is summarized in Figure 15.2. 

The critical process of emulsification of dietary lipids occurs in the duodenum. Emulsification increases the surface area of the hydrophobic lipid droplets so that the digestive enzymes, which... 

II. Digestion, Absorption, Secretion, and Utilization of Dietary Lipids... 

Bile salts (bile acids) are the major excretory form of cholesterol. These polar compounds are formed in the liver by converting cholesterol into the activated intermediate cholyl CoA and then combining this compound with either glycine, to form glycocholate, or taurine, to form taurocholate. The detergentlike bile salts are secreted into the intestine where they aid the digestion and uptake of dietary lipids. 

The coefficient of fat absorption is defined as the amount of fat absorbed as a percentage of the ingested amount. This coefficient normally exceeds 93% and is used (rather than crude fecal fat excretion) to indicate efficacy of luminal fat digestion following different dietary lipid intakes. By contrast, fecal carbohydrate measurements do not fully reflect the extent of starch malabsorption because carbohydrates are metabolized by the intracolonic microbial flora. Since intracolonic metabolism of carbohydrates... 

Lipid digestion is accomplished in the small intestine by the action of hydrolytic enzymes, called lipases and phospholipases, which act on dietary triacylglycerol and phospholipids, respectively. 

The digestion and absorption of dietary lipid can be completed only in the presence of adequate amounts of bile salts that are synthesized in the liver and pass, via the bile duct, into the duodenum and thence into the jejunum. Reabsorption of the bile salt micelles occurs in the ileum, from which a large proportion return via the blood to the liver. The bile ducts carry bile salts from the liver to the gallbladder, where they are stored excreted (excess) cholesterol is dissolved in the bile salt micelles. Overall, 90 percent of the bile salts involved in absorption of lipid in the jejunum are recycled, in a process called the enterohepatic circulation, and 10 percent are lost in the feces. Replacement of this amount necessitates conversion from cholesterol. Thus, de novo synthesis of cholesterol itself plays an important part in maintaining the supply of bile salts. 

Q9 Lipid in the diet is present mostly in the form of triglycerides, which are digested by pancreatic lipase to yield fatty acids and monoglycerides bile salts are also required for digestion and absorption of the dietary lipids. Bile salts interact with the fatty acids and monoglycerides in the gut lumen to form micelles, which can be absorbed by the epithelial cells. In the epithelial cell the triglyceride is resynthesized to form droplets, or chylomicrons, which enter the lacteals and are carried by the lymphatic system into the general circulation. 

Emulsification/absorption of dietary lipid in the intestine. Bile acids are stored in the gallbladder and released into the duodenum when cholecys-tokinin is released. In the small intestine, bile acids help to solubilise monoglycerides and fatty acids which are formed as the result of the digestion of dietary triglyceride, thereby enhancing the absorption of lipids and the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. 

As polar derivatives of cholesterol, bile salts are highly effective detergents because they contain both polar and nonpolar regions. Bile salts are synthesized in the liver, stored and concentrated in the gall bladder, and then released into the small intestine. Bile salts, the major constituent of bile, solubilize dietary lipids (Section 22.1.1). Solubilization increases in the effective surface area of lipids with two consequences more surface area is exposed to the digestive action of lipases and lipids are more readily absorbed by the intestine. Bile salts are also the major breakdown products of cholesterol. 

The well-fed, or postabsorptive, state. After we consume and digest an evening meal, glucose and amino acids are transported from the intestine to the blood. The dietary lipids are packaged into chylomicrons and transported to the blood by the lymphatic system. This fed condition leads to the secretion of insulin, which is one of the two most... 

Nutritional Uses of Lecithin in Animal Feeds The functional aspects of lecithin use as an emulsifier are referenced above. Emulsification of dietary lipid is also nutritionally important for digestion. Immature animals of all species (e.g., calves, dogs, fish, pigs, and poultry) have limited production of digestive emulsifiers (i.e., bile) and enzymes. Providing lecithin as a dietary emulsifier allows improved utilization of feed energy. 

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