ABSTRACT
The requirement for membrane synthesis is particularly important during growth and liver development, or when the liver is regenerating after partial hepatectomy. The phosphatidylcholine helps to stabilize the micelle and it enables cholesterol to be transported in an aqueous environment. The biliary cholesterol is not completely reabsorbed from the small intestine and therefore the liver is able to promote the excretion of cholesterol from the body by this route. Apart from the synthesis of phospholipids, the liver is a major site in the body for the production of triacylglycerols. A change in the capacity of the liver to synthesize triacylglycerols appears to be normally associated with a parallel change in the total activity of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase. The increase in the activity of phosphatidate phosphohydrolase in the liver in rats with ketotic diabetes can be reversed by the injection of insulin.
