Phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) is an important phospholipid that makes up cell membranes and organelle membranes. It is also called cephalin because it is abundant in the brain, spinal cord and other nervous tissues. Cephalin, or kephalin, is thought to play a main role in keeping the nervous system intact and healthy because of its multitude of functions and its significant contribution to neural tissues.
Cephalin is vital for nerve health due to its presence in cell membranes, such as the myelin sheath, which insulates and protects nerve fibres. It helps maintain the structural integrity of these membranes and plays a role in nerve signalling and neurological functions.
Cephalin also helps to restore and maintain the natural barrier function of the upper most layer of the skin. It helps regenerate the skin and make it look visibly younger and rejuvenated.
Plants synthesise ethanolamine by direct decarboxylation of serine using a pyridoxal phosphate enzyme. Animals and humans obtain most of the ethanolamine part of PE from dietary sources.
The body then makes phosphatidylethanolamine through a series of enzymatic steps. A class of antihistamines is identified as ethanolamines which includes carbinoxamine, clemastine, dimenhydrinate, diphenhydramine and doxylamine.
PE helps stabilise the sarcolemmal membranes of the cardiac tissues when there is an inadequate supply of oxygen, such as what happens in coronary heart disease. It also plays a role in the hepatic secretion of very-low-density lipoproteins as well as in membrane fission and fusion.
It undergoes reactions to donate its ethanolamine component for the production of a membrane protein-anchoring compound called glycosylphosphatidylinositol. PE can also be converted to phosphatidylcholine by phosphatidyl ethanolamine methyltransferase, an enzyme that is present in the liver.
Natural source of cephalin
- Soya beans
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