Fatty-acid metabolism in oral mucosal epithelium of the hamster

Little is known about the role of lipid metabolism in oral mucosal epithelia, although lipids probably play significant roles in the barrier function and in the production of energy for the various epithelial biosynthetic activities. The metabolic fate of exogenously added 14C-labelled oleic acid in pure epithelial sheets from hamster cheek-pouch has been investigated. Significant amounts of the label from the fatty acid were found in phosphatidyl choline, sphingomyelin and triglyceride fractions. Lesser amounts were found in cholesterol, cholesterol ester, ceramide and phosphatidyl ethanolamine. Estimations of the amount of ATP produced by both glycolysis and by fatty-acid beta-oxidation indicated that the 2 activities were essentially equal, which is in contrast to that reported for the epidermis. The results suggest that the oral mucosal epithelium, like the epidermis, is an active lipid-metabolizing tissue.