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In humans, the digestion of dietary triacylglycerols is mediated by two main enzymes, a gastric lipase which is secreted by the chief cells of the fundic mucosa and which acts in the stomach as well as the intestine, and a pancreatic lipase which contributes to the lipid digestion only in the duodenum (1-3). In order to overcome the inhibitory effect of bile-salts present in the intestinal lumen, pancreatic lipase specifically requires the presence of a small pancreatic cofactor (colipase) which acts as an anchor for pancreatic lipase (4). Gastric and pancreatic lipases belong to two distinct structural families and display very different biochemical and kinetic properties. The pancreatic lipase family also includes lipoprotein lipase and hepatic lipase (5-7). The gastric lipase family, defined also as the acidic lipase family (8-10), includes lingual, pharyngeal and lysosomal lipases. These lipases share no sequence homology with the pancreatic lipase family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]