Talk:Wax ester

Expanding

The entire article needs expanding; for example,

• please add an explanation of the chemical structure of wax esters that is comprehensible to a general audience, as well as the similarities and differences with related substances.
• Also include information on what kind of fish these may be found in, the biology of the fish, etc. 69.140.164.142 13:19, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
• Some explanation for why it is not properly digested and has a laxative property would also be helpful. lk (talk) 08:01, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
• This article doesn't tell us what a wax ester IS. It only tells us where we can find them —Preceding unsigned comment added by 144.136.66.139 (talk) 04:21, 24 September 2010 (UTC)

Dubious justification to claim Wax esters are essential for sebaceous glands

The current page says:

"The biological function of the wax esters is that it is, for some reason, essential for the survival of sebaceous glands. In knockout mice that lack wax esters, their sebaceous glands atrophy, and they suffer hair loss"

Based on a review that says:

"Wax esters, like squalene, are unique to sebum and not produced anywhere else in the body. They account for ∼25% of sebaceous gland lipids, and their production is important in the survival of the sebaceous gland. This can be seen in mice that lack these lipids. In the acyl-CoA:DGAT1 knockout mouse, there is sebaceous gland atrophy and hair loss. DGAT is an important enzyme in the synthesis of triglycerides and has two forms, DGAT1 and DGAT2..."

As they mention: DGAT1 does a lot of things, notably including producing triglycerides which are the primary component of sebum, so trying to tie the effects to just Wax ester production seems pretty tenuous. Maybe it's related, maybe it's not. Though, since it's a claim from a review, I'll leave it alone unless I find a later review source Pabnau (talk) 05:19, 31 August 2026 (UTC)

References