Lipids can usually be extracted easily from tissues by making use of their hydrophobic characteristics. However, such extractions yield a complex mixture of different lipid classes which have to be purified further for quantitative analysis. Moreover, the crude lipid extract will be contami nated by other hydrophobic molecules, e.g. by intrinsic membrane proteins. Of the various types of separation processes, thin layer and column chromatography are most useful for intact lipids. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is also rapidly becoming more popular, especially for the fractionation of molecular species of a given lipid class. The most powerful tool for quantitation of the majority of lipids is gas liquid chromatography (GLC). The method is very sensitive and, if adapted with capillary columns, can provide information with regard to such subtle features as the position or configuration of substitutions along acyl chains. By coupling GLC or HPLC to a radioactivity detector, then the techniques are also very useful for metabolic measurements. Although research laboratories use generally sophisticated analytical methods such as GLC to analyse and quantify lipid samples, chemical derivatii:ations are often used in hospitals. For these methods, the lipid samples are derivatized to yield a product which can be measured simply and accurately"- usually by colour. Thus, total triacylglycerol, cholesterol or phospholipid-phosphorus can be quantitated conveniently without bothering with the extra information of molecular species, etc. which might be determined by more thorough analyses. REFERENCES Christie, W.W. (1982) Lipid Analysis, 2nd edn, Pergamon Press, Oxford.
Since the publication of the first edition of this successful and popular book in 1970, the subject of lipid biochemistry has evolved greatly and this fifth up-to-date and comprehensive edition includes much new and exciting information.
Lipid Biochemistry, fifth edition has been largely re-written in a user-friendly way, with chapters containing special interest topic boxes, summary points and lists of suggested reading, further enhancing the accessibility and readability of this excellent text.
Contents include abbreviations and definitions used in the study of lipids, routine analytical methods, fatty acid structure and metabolism, dietary lipids and lipids as energy stores, lipid transport, lipids in cellular structures and the metabolism of structural lipids. The book provides a most comprehensive treatment of the subject, making it essential reading for all those working with or studying lipids.
Upper level students of biochemistry, biology, clinical subjects, nutrition and food science will find the contents of this book invaluable as a study aid, as will postgraduates specializing in the topics covered in the book. Professionals working in research in academia and industry, including personnel involved in food and nutrition research, new product formulation, special diet formulation (including nutraceuticals and functional foods) and other clinical aspects will find a vast wealth of information within the book's pages.
Michael Gurr was a Visiting Professor in Human Nutrition at the University of Reading, UK and at Oxford Brookes University, UK. John Harwood is a Professor of Biochemistry at the School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, UK. Keith Frayn is a Professor of Human Metabolism at the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Oxford, UK.
