Schooneveldt Yvette L, Paul Sudip, Calkin Anna C, Meikle Peter J
Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Front Physiol. 2022 Mar 3;13:841278. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.841278. eCollection 2022.
Ether lipids are a unique class of glycero- and glycerophospho-lipid that carry an ether or vinyl ether linked fatty alcohol at the -1 position of the glycerol backbone. These specialised lipids are important endogenous anti-oxidants with additional roles in regulating membrane fluidity and dynamics, intracellular signalling, immunomodulation and cholesterol metabolism. Lipidomic profiling of human population cohorts has identified new associations between reduced circulatory plasmalogen levels, an abundant and biologically active sub-class of ether lipids, with obesity and body-mass index. These findings align with the growing body of work exploring novel roles for ether lipids within adipose tissue. In this regard, ether lipids have now been linked to facilitating lipid droplet formation, regulating thermogenesis and mediating beiging of white adipose tissue in early life. This review will assess recent findings in both population studies and studies using cell and animal models to delineate the functional and protective roles of ether lipids in the setting of obesity. We will also discuss the therapeutic potential of ether lipid supplementation to attenuate diet-induced obesity.
醚脂是一类独特的甘油酯和甘油磷脂，在甘油主链的-1位带有醚或乙烯基醚连接的脂肪醇。这些特殊的脂质是重要的内源性抗氧化剂，在调节膜流动性和动力学、细胞内信号传导、免疫调节和胆固醇代谢方面具有额外作用。对人群队列的脂质组分析已经确定，循环中缩醛磷脂水平降低（缩醛磷脂是醚脂中丰富且具有生物活性的亚类）与肥胖和体重指数之间存在新的关联。这些发现与越来越多探索醚脂在脂肪组织中新作用的研究结果一致。在这方面，醚脂现已与促进脂滴形成、调节产热以及介导早期生命中白色脂肪组织的米色化相关联。本综述将评估人群研究以及使用细胞和动物模型的研究中的最新发现，以阐明醚脂在肥胖背景下的功能和保护作用。我们还将讨论补充醚脂以减轻饮食诱导的肥胖的治疗潜力。
