Pancreatic lipase and gastric lipase

Pancreatic and gastric lipases are key digestive enzymes responsible for the breakdown of dietary fats. Pancreatic lipase is secreted by the pancreas into the small intestine where it catalyzes the hydrolysis of triglycerides into monoglycerides and free fatty acids. This process requires bile salts for emulsification and colipase as a cofactor. Gastric lipase is secreted by chief cells in the stomach; it initiates lipid digestion under acidic conditions before chyme enters the small intestine. Both enzymes belong to distinct gene families but share an alpha/beta-hydrolase fold structure with a catalytic triad at their active site. Deficiencies or dysfunctions in these enzymes can result in malabsorption syndromes or contribute to diseases like pancreatitis. Pharmacological inhibition—most notably by drugs like orlistat—targets these enzymes therapeutically to reduce fat absorption as an anti-obesity strategy but may cause gastrointestinal side effects due to unabsorbed fats[1][4][5][6].

Other names

Pancreatic triacylglycerol lipase (for pancreatic lipase)Steapsin (for pancreatic lipase)PTL or PNLIP (abbreviations for pancreatic lipase)Gastric acid-stable triacylglycerol hydrolase (for gastric lipase)

Inhibition of enzymatic hydrolysis of dietary triglycerides in the gastrointestinal tract[5]