Hyperlipidemia and Membrane Composition - Essay Example

As mentioned earlier that the lipids are an important component of the cell membranes, they are also affected by an increase or decrease in the amount of circulating lipids in the body. The increased amount of lipids in the body leads to an increased number of fatty acids. These increased free fatty acids are taken up by cell membranes of many cells of the body, the most important of which are erythrocytes, immune cells, and platelets. The increased fatty acid content of the cell membrane helps to retain its fluidity of the membrane but, on the other hand, it also affects the enzymatic activity of the membrane due to oxidative damage to membrane proteins (Fatty acids: physiological and behavioral functions, 2001).

The alteration in the structure and function of erythrocyte due to increased incorporation of fatty acid was found to be a cause of their hemorheological behavior leading to many diseases. The major protein channel affected by this was the Na-K ATPase transporter (Koter M et al, 2004).Atherosclerosis, a diseased characterized by increased aggregation of platelets was also found to be caused by increased lipid content of the body. The increased amount of arachidonic acid in the platelet cell membrane was thought to be a cause of this increased platelet aggregation (omega-3 fatty acids and health, 1995).

Apart from all the adverse of hyperlipidemias on membrane composition and function, they have been found to be rather helpful in patients with epilepsy. Increases lipid content decreases one’s susceptibility to seizures as increased fatty acids in the membrane affect the protein channels leading to decreased firing capacity of neuronal and glial cells (Fatty acids: physiological and behavioral functions, 2001).