Abstract:

The metabolism of postprandial fat is complex. It involves several processes of dietary fat including digestion in
alimentary canal, cellular synthesis and translocation of chylomicron, hydrolysation of plasma triglyceride and clearance of
remnant. Fat-digesting enzymes in the digestive tract catalyze the hydrolysis of triacylglycerol to free long-chain fatty acids
that are transported across the plasma membrane of enterocytes by many kinds of proteins. In enterocytes, long-chain fatty
acids are esterificated to form triacylglycerol and packed into chylomicron with some lipoproteins. The newly assembled
chylomicrons carry the triacylglycerol from the diet and translocate into blood circulation. The plasma triacylglycerol is
hydrolyzed into fatty acids by lipoprotein lipase attached to the capillary endothelium and utilized by surrounded tissue.
The remnant and residual fatty acids will be recycled by hepatic cells. Because lipoprotein lipase (LPL) is the rate-limiting
enzyme for plasma triglyceride clearance and tissue uptake of fatty acids, the activity of which is carefully controlled at
the transcriptional and translational levels in the response to diverse physiological stimuli. The dysregulation of dietary fat
metabolism will initiate postprandial hypertriglyceridemia, which is associated with cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance
and obesity.

Key words: dietary fat, lipoprotein lipase, chylomicron, fatty acid