Professional paper
Importance of lipids and fatty acids in reptiles
Josip Miljković
; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Ivona Žura Žaja
; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
*
Lana Pađen
; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Jasna Aladrović
; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Lucija Bastiančić
; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Duje Lisičić
; Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb
Sofia Ana Blažević
; Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb
Ana Shek Vugrovečki
; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Reptiles store excess energy in the form of triglycerides stored in fat tissue. In reptiles, the subcutaneous fat tissue is poorly developed, but there are species with significant subcutaneous fat pads, such as the Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus). Most reptiles store adipose tissue in paired abdominal fat bodies. The tail may be the primary storage site for adipose tissue in lizards, especially those lacking abdominal fat in their bodies. The energy obtained from fat hydrolysis is necessary during periods of
hibernation, starvation and reproduction. It is considered that reptiles do not develop brown fat tissue, but brown fat cells are described in the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). Lipids are transported in the plasma in two ways, as free fatty acids and as tryglycerides in the composition of lipoproteins, the transport forms of lipids. Reptiles have lipoproteins of the same categories as mammals (VLDL, LDL and HDL). The transport forms of lipids contain triglycerides in their composition, which contain fatty acids, and they can be of endogenous and/or exogenous origin. Fatty acids have many functions, such as those in the immune response, reproduction, physiology of the nervous system, etc. The determination of the fatty acid composition in the blood and tissues of reptiles is increasingly attracting the attention of scientists, among other things because it provides an insight into the health of the individual. This growing knowledge helps
improve breeding, and thus the conservation of species, especially endangered ones.
Keywords
reptiles; lipids; lipid transport; fatty acids
Hrčak ID:
318336
URI
Publication date:
24.6.2024.
Visits: 32 *