# Any chemists/biochemists here that can translate this title for me? It's in English but it's Greek to me **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2021, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chemists-biochemists-here-that-can-translate-this-title-for-me-its-in-english-but-its-greek-to-me/944762 "2021-06-21T14:02:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2021, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chemists-biochemists-here-that-can-translate-this-title-for-me-its-in-english-but-its-greek-to-me/944762/1 "2021-06-21T14:02:10Z")
I stumbled across my Dad’s 1966 biochemistry dissertation and it’s so far above my head that I have absolutely no idea what it’s even about. The title is “Alterations of Microsomal Phospholipids Occurring During the Enzymic Oxidation of TPNH.” Link to actual paper [here.](https://shareok.org/bitstream/handle/11244/2022/6610182.PDF) I would ask him what it all means but unfortunately, he passed away due to COVID-19 last year. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chemists-biochemists-here-that-can-translate-this-title-for-me-its-in-english-but-its-greek-to-me/944762/2 "2021-06-26T08:45:54Z")
It seems to be establishing a link between oxidisation of TPNH, and a change in the lips. In cell biology, **microsomes** are heterogenous vesicle-like artifacts (~20-200 nm diameter) re-formed from pieces of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) when eukaryotic cells are broken-up in the laboratory; **microsomes** are not present in healthy, living cells. phospholipids … fats involvating phosphate. the pink, 532 nm absorbing _chromogen_ which is formed upon reaction of 2-​thiobarbituric acid ( _TBA_ with the lipid peroxidation product malonaldehyde **Cytochromes** are redox-active proteins containing a heme, with a central Fe atom at its core, as a cofactor. They are involved in electron transport chain and redox catalysis. They are classified according to the type of heme and its mode of binding. So its all about how phospholipids turn putrid inside the test tube. If you want that, can you add the NADP ( TPNH ) oxidising enzymes ? if you want to stop it, can you simply remove/block those enzymes ? is it 1 to 1 ? is it the sole cause ? is there another process ? Not sure what the total goal is, but the is involved in breaking down and making lipids,fats… so this is postmortem analysis of liver cells. eg fatty liver is a disease and so it may be attempting to postmortem the liver when its rotten ? Did it have fatty liver disease ? livers make cholesterol, did the person die of high cholesterol ? Is the stored sample of liver from the bull suggesting that the bulls offspring would be good for making fat calves ? See if you just measure lipids, you might be missing the fatty acids, which are lipids that have oxidised and dissolved. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chemists-biochemists-here-that-can-translate-this-title-for-me-its-in-english-but-its-greek-to-me/944762/3 "2021-06-26T20:13:31Z")
Thank you very much! I think that’s the most detailed and understandable explanation that I could have hoped for.