General Veterinary Biochemistry

PLASMALOGENS

• Some animal tissues are rich in ether lipids. When a fatty acid is attached by an ether rather than by an ester linkage at carbon 1 of the glycerol molecule, a plasmalogen is produced.
• For example, phosphatidalethanolamine is the plasmalogen that is similar in structure to phosphatidylethanolamine but containing an ether linkage at carbon-1.
• The fatty acid may be saturated or unsaturated. Plasmalogens constitute as much as 10% of the phospholipids of brain and muscle. The platelet activating factor is plasmalogen causing platelet aggregation and vascular dilation.