| Definition | Palmitic acid, also known as palmitate or hexadecanoic acid, is a member of the class of compounds known as long-chain fatty acids. Long-chain fatty acids are fatty acids with an aliphatic tail that contains between 13 and 21 carbon atoms. Thus, palmitic acid is considered to be a fatty acid lipid molecule. Palmitic acid is practically insoluble (in water) and a weakly acidic compound (based on its pKa). Palmitic acid can be found in a number of food items such as sacred lotus, spinach, shallot, and corn salad, which makes palmitic acid a potential biomarker for the consumption of these food products. Palmitic acid can be found primarily in most biofluids, including feces, sweat, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and urine, as well as throughout most human tissues. Palmitic acid exists in all living species, ranging from bacteria to humans. In humans, palmitic acid is involved in several metabolic pathways, some of which include alendronate action pathway, rosuvastatin action pathway, simvastatin action pathway, and cerivastatin action pathway. Palmitic acid is also involved in several metabolic disorders, some of which include hypercholesterolemia, familial lipoprotein lipase deficiency, ethylmalonic encephalopathy, and carnitine palmitoyl transferase deficiency (I). Moreover, palmitic acid is found to be associated with schizophrenia. Palmitic acid is a non-carcinogenic (not listed by IARC) potentially toxic compound. Palmitic acid, or hexadecanoic acid in IUPAC nomenclature, is the most common saturated fatty acid found in animals, plants and microorganisms. Its chemical formula is CH3(CH2)14COOH, and its C:D is 16:0. As its name indicates, it is a major component of the oil from the fruit of oil palms (palm oil). Palmitic acid can also be found in meats, cheeses, butter, and dairy products. Palmitate is the salts and esters of palmitic acid. The palmitate anion is the observed form of palmitic acid at physiologic pH (7.4) . Palmitic acid is the first fatty acid produced during lipogenesis (fatty acid synthesis) and from which longer fatty acids can be produced. Palmitate negatively feeds back on acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) which is responsible for converting acetyl-ACP to malonyl-ACP on the growing acyl chain, thus preventing further palmitate generation (DrugBank). |
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| InChI Identifier | InChI=1S/C16H32O2/c1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16(17)18/h2-15H2,1H3,(H,17,18) |
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