Phospholipids, serum

When most lipids circulate in the body, they do so in the form of lipoprotein complexes. Simple, unesterified fatty acids are merely bound to serum albumin and other proteins in blood plasma, but phospholipids, triacylglycerols, cholesterol, and cholesterol esters are all transported in the form of lipoproteins. At various sites in the body, lipoproteins interact with specific receptors and enzymes that transfer or modify their lipid cargoes. It is now customary to classify lipoproteins according to their densities (Table 25.1). The densities are... 

Senior, J., and Gregoriadis, G. (1982). Stability of small unilamellar liposomes in serum and clearance from the circulation The effect of the phospholipid and cholesterol components. Life Sci., 30. 2123-2136. 

Figure 38, Patterns obtained from the extract of 10 fd of serum for lipid fraction by thin-layer chromatography. In sequence, starting from the bottom, phospholipids, pee cholesterol, cholesterol aniline as an internal standard, triglycerides, and cholesterol esters. The free fatty acids occur between cholesterol and the internal standard and are only barely visible in the print, on the extreme right. They are readily visible, normally, to the eye.

Figure 39, A lipid pattern from normal serum which has been scanned for density of the thin-layer chromatograph, showing the various peaks, P, phospholipids C, cholesterol F, free fatty acids S, internal standard, T, triglycerides CE, cholesterol esters.

In this in vitro system, the presence of serum in cell culture medium is not necessary, but the type of transwell is important (the total amount of H-triglycerides secreted was two-fold higher when using 3 pm versus 1 pm pore size transwells), and oleic acid supplementation is required for the formation and secretion of CMs as well as the transport of 3-carotene through Caco-2 cells. Finally, the presence of Tween 40 does not affect CM synthesis and secretion in this in vitro cell culture system. Thus, CMs secreted by Caco-2 cells were characterized as particles rich in newly synthesized H-triglycerides (90% of total secreted) containing apolipoprotein B (30% of total secreted) and H-phospholipids (20% of total secreted) and with an average diameter of 60 nm. These characteristics are close to those of CMs secreted in vivo by enterocytes. ... 

ECF. Note that phosphorus is the major anion within the cells. Given this distribution, serum phosphate concentration does not accurately reflect total body phosphorus stores. Phosphorus is expressed in milligrams (mg) or millimoles (mmol), not as milliequivalents (mEq). Because phosphorus is the source of phosphate for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and phospholipid synthesis, manifestations of phosphorus imbalance are variable. 

The fate of injected liposomes is drastically altered by administration route, dose and size, lipid composition, surface modification, and encapsulated drugs. Liposomes encapsulating drugs are often administered iv, therefore, the stability of liposomes in plasma is important. When liposomes composed of PC with unsaturated fatty acyl chains are incubated in the presence of serum, an efflux of internal solute from the liposomes is observed. This increase in permeability is caused by the transfer of phospholipids to high density lipoprotein (HDL) in serum (55). To reduce the efflux of liposomal contents, cholesterol is added as a liposomal component... 

Since lipophilic molecules have affinity for both the membrane lipid and the serum proteins, membrane retention is expected to decrease, by the extent of the relative lipophilicities of the drug molecules in membrane lipid versus serum proteins, and by the relative amounts of the two competitive-binding phases [see Eqs. (7.41)-(7.43)]. Generally, the serum proteins cannot extract all of the sample molecules from the phospholipid membrane phase at equilibrium. Thus, to measure permeability under sink conditions, it is still necessary to characterize the extent of membrane retention. Generally, this has been sidestepped in the reported literature. 

Highly insoluble molecules are in part transported in the GIT by partitioning into the mixed micelles injected into the lumen from the biliary duct in the duodenum (Fig. 2.3). Mixed micelles consist of a 4 1 mixture of bile salts and phospholipids (Fig. 7.13). In contrast, at the point of absorption in the BBB, highly insoluble molecules are transported by serum proteins. This distinction is expected to be important in in vitro assay modeling. The use of simulated intestinal fluids is appealing. 

Choline-containing phospholipids have been determined in human serum using an IMER consisting of coimmobilized phospholipase D and choline oxidase [51]. Recently, immobilized glutamate oxidase was used to determine L-glutamic acid in culture media [52],... 

In rodents, copper administered by single intraperitoneal or subcutaneous injection is lethal at 3 to 7 mg Cu/kg BW (Table 3.7). Mice died when their drinking water contained 640 mg Cu/L (Table 3.7). In rats, copper accumulation in kidneys and lungs is similar regardless of route of administration (Romeu-Moreno et al. 1994). Concentrations of copper in serum of rats (Rattus sp.) reflect dietary copper concentrations in liver and kidney are directly related to serum Cu and ceruloplasmin (Petering et al. 1977). As serum Cu concentrations rise in rats, levels fall for serum cholesterol, triglycerides, and phospholipids (Petering et al. 1977). 

Significantly increased levels in serum of phospholipids, cholesterol, and triglycerides reduced growth rate no evidence of liver or lung damage (Seidenfeld etal. 1984)... 

There have been several reports where plasma protein binding data was used in the prediction of in vivo properties of compounds. Two papers noted that the ability to predict in vivo clearance from in vitro microsome data was greatly improved when a plasma protein binding term was included [64,65]. In another study, binding to phospholipids and human serum albumin was assessed by HPLC retention times (on IAM and HAS columns, respectively) and used to predict volume of distribution [66]. 

As a high incidence of arteriovenous thrombosis is described in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Matsuda et al. (Ml8) tried to demonstrate a relationship between the presence of anti-phospholipid antibodies and Lp(a) concentrations. They found that serum Lp(a) concentrations were increased in patients with SLE independent of the presence of anti-phospholipid antibodies. Borba et al. (B18) confirmed these findings and also could not correlate Lp(a) concentrations with anti-cardiolipid antibodies. 

Transfection ofmouse SlPphosphatase into HEK 293 cells, resulting in a 3-fold increase in membrane SIP phosphatase activity, caused a 50% deaease in SIP levels (reduced by 0.6 pmol/nmol phospholipid) and a 2 fold inaease in ceramide (inaeased by 23 pmol/nmol phospholipid) whereas sphingosine levels were similar to vector controls (0.8 pnnol/nmol phosphohpid). SIP phosphatase transfected cells underwent apoptosis in response to serum withdrawal, C2-ceramide, peroxide or doxorubicin with 2-3 fold higher frequency compared to vector-transfected control cells. Surprisingly, exogenously added SIP, which normally confers protechon, inaeased apoptosis. This may be due to its metabolism to ceramide (Mandala et al, 2000) although other factors may also be involved. 

Oral exposure of mice to heptachlor for 92 days (10 mg/kg/day) or 180 days (5.7 mg/kg/day) increased SGPT and decreased phospholipids and total serum cholesterol (Izushi and Ogata 1990). Triglyceride content was increased at 92 days only. Evidence of liver damage was seen as a significant increase in SGPT. An increase in the liver-to-body-weight ratio was also observed. 

Lipoproteins are an important class of serum proteins in which a spherical hydrophobic core of triglycerides or cholesterol esters is surrounded by an amphipathic monolayer of phospholipids, cholesterol and apolipoproteins (fatbinding proteins). Lipoproteins transport lipid in the circulation and vary in size and density, depending on their proteindipid ratio (Figure 7.3). Lipoprotein metabolism is adversely affected by obesity low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol and plasma triglyceride are increased, together with decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol concentrations. 

Scanu, A. M., Binding of human serum high density lipoprotein apoprotein with aqueous dispersions of phospholipids. J. Biol. Chem. 242, 711-719 (1967). 

The fatty acids could be carried by proteins by a process similar to the way in which serum albumin binds fatty acid in the bloodstream of mammals. Other types of lipid might be formed into complexes analogous to low-density lipoproteins of the type found in animal tissues, where the lipid core of the lipoprotein is surrounded by a hydrophilic cortex made up of protein, phospholipid, and cholesterol (87). This allows the lipid to be moved in an aqueous environment. The protein of the lipoprotein shell could also act as possible ligands for particular receptors at the membrane of the cell at which the export occurs. The lipoproteins, if they are present, would probably be formed within the endomembrane lumen and would receive the proteins at the endoplasmic reticulum. 

---