Triglycerides molecular distribution

Barbano, D.M., Sherbon, J.W. 1980. Polyunsaturated protected lipid Effect on triglyceride molecular weight distribution. J. Dairy Sci. 63, 731-740. 

Most commercial products are mixtures because of the way they are manufactured. For instance many surfactant hydrophobes come from assorted products such as petroleiun alkylate cuts or triglyceride oils, with a molecular weight distribution that could be narrow or wide. Usually, a purification and separation of single isomeric species would be too costly and, in most cases, pointless. Moreover, the synthesis reactions involved in the surfactant manufacturing might be the intrinsic reason of the production of a mixture, such as in the case of polycondensation of ethylene oxide which results in an often wide spread ethylene oxide munber (EON) distribution. A residual content of some intermediates or by-products might also be a significant cause for mixture effects. 

Lipoproteins have hydrophobic core regions containing cholesteryl esters and triglycerides surrounded by unesterified cholesterol, phospholipids, and apoproteins. Certain lipoproteins contain very high-molecular-weight proteins that exist in two forms B-48, formed in the intestine and found in chylomicrons and their remnants and B-lOO, synthesized in liver and found in VLDL, VLDL remnants(IDL),LDL (formed from VLDL), and Lp(a) lipoproteins. HDL consist of at least 15 discrete molecular species. All species contain apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I). Fifty-three other proteins are known to be distributed variously among the HDL species. 

Breckenridge, W. C. and Kuksis, A. 1967. Molecular weight distributions of milk fat triglycerides from seven species. J. Lipid Res. 8, 473-478. 

One of the major applications of SEC is polymer characterization. As many of the properties that characterize a polymer, including hardness, brittleness, and tensile strength, are related to the molecular weight distribution, GPC can be used to identify subtle differences between polymer materials. The GPC technique can also be used as an alternative to reversed-phase LC for samples, such as creams, ointments, and lotions. These samples contain high levels of hydrophobic materials, such as triglycerides, which could bind strongly to the reversed-phase column and cause column fouling. 

Apolipoproteins of the C group are peptides of small molecular weights, present in chylomicrons, VLDL, IDL, and HDL. These polypeptides have common characteristics they are regulators (activators or inhibitors) of the lipid metabolism of lipoproteins, particularly the catabolism of triglyceride-rich hpoproteins [1]. The distribution of the different Apo C in lipoprotein classes varies between normal subjects and hypertriglyceridemics and in relation to fasting and the type of diet. 

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