Fatty acid activation, VIII

Figure 22.6 How various factors increase the risk of atherosclerosis, thrombosis and myocardial infarction. The diagram provides suggestions as to how various factors increase the risk of development of the trio of cardiovascular problems. The factors include an excessive intake of total fat, which increases activity of clotting factors, especially factor VIII an excessive intake of saturated or trans fatty acids that change the structure of the plasma membrane of cells, such as endothelial cells, which increases the risk of platelet aggregation or susceptibility of the membrane to injury excessive intake of salt - which increases blood pressure, as does smoking and low physical activity a high intake of fat or cholesterol or a low intake of antioxidants, vitamin 6 2 and folic acid, which can lead either to direct chemical damage (e.g. oxidation) to the structure of LDL or an increase in the serum level of LDL, which also increases the risk of chemical damage to LDL. A low intake of folate and vitamin B12 also decreases metabolism of homocysteine, so that the plasma concentration increases, which can damage the endothelial membrane due to formation of thiolactone.

Not all of the surfactants are capable of forming micelles. The appropriate ratio between the size of hydrophobic (hydrocarbon chains) and hydrophilic (polar group) parts of surfactant molecules, which determines their hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB, see Chapter VIII, 3), is necessary for the formation of micelles to take place. Sodium and ammonium salts of C12 - C20 fatty acids, alkylsulfates, alkylbenzenesulfonates, and other synthetic ionic and nonionic surfactants are the examples of micelle-forming surface active substances. The true solubility, i.e. the concentration of dissolved substance in its molecular or ionic form, of such surfactants is rather low for ionic surfactants it is on the order of hundredths and thousandths of kmol m 3, while for nonionic ones it can be even lower by one or two orders of magnitude. 

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