Human digestive and metabolic lipases - a brief review

The major human lipases include the gastric, pancreatic and bile-salt-stimulated lipase that aid in the digestion and assimilation of dietary fats, and the hepatic, lipoprotein and endothelial lipase that function in the metabolism of lipoproteins. The triacylglycerol and phopholipase activities of these enzymes enable these varied functions. The lipase enzymes exhibit a high degree of sequence homology not only within but also across species. This and the diverse chromosomal location of their genes point to a multigenic family of enzymes involved in absorption and transport of lipids. Inactivation of lipolytic activity of microorganisms to control infection, inhibition of digestive lipase to control obesity, stimulation of metabolic lipase to reduce hyperlipidemia or procoagulant state, or use of pancreatic lipase supplement in the management of cystic fibrosis are examples of how lipase activity modulation can impact human health. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.