title: Relevance of dietary glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids to human health.
abstract: Glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids participate in a variety of indispensable metabolic, neurological, and intracellular signaling processes. In this didactic paper we review the biological roles of phospholipids and try to unravel the precise nature of their putative healthful activities. We conclude that the biological actions of phospholipids activities potentially be nutraceutically exploited in the adjunct therapy of widely diffused pathologies such as neurodegeneration or the metabolic syndrome. As phospholipids can be recovered from inexpensive sources such as food processing by-products, ad-hoc investigation is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioactivity and Food Analysis, Group of Lipids, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de la Alimentación (CIAL CSIC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera, 9, Madrid 28049, Spain.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Castro-Gómez
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioactivity and Food Analysis, Group of Lipids, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de la Alimentación (CIAL CSIC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera, 9, Madrid 28049, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garcia-Serrano
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; IMDEA-Food, CEI UAM+CSIC, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Visioli
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioactivity and Food Analysis, Group of Lipids, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias de la Alimentación (CIAL CSIC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Nicolás Cabrera, 9, Madrid 28049, Spain. Electronic address: j.fontecha@csic.es.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fontecha
mesh_terms: D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D015444:Exercise; D020404:Glycerophospholipids / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy; D013107:Sphingolipids / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D020404:Glycerophospholipids; D013107:Sphingolipids
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Milk fat globule membranes; Phosphatidylcholine; Phospholipids; Sphingolipids; Sphingosine