Academic Journal
Q1Progress in Lipid Research
About Progress in Lipid Research
Progress in Lipid Research is a scholarly journal published by Elsevier Ltd. SCImago 2025 places it in Q1 with an SJR of 4.786 and an H-index of 187.
Its listed coverage is 1978-2026 and its research categories include Biochemistry (Q1); Cell Biology (Q1). The 2025 dataset reports 21 documents and 1816 citations across the latest three-year reporting window.
Lipid research has seen remarkable progress over the past few decades, revealing crucial insights into how fats function in the human body. The journal Progress in Lipid Research has played a pivotal role in disseminating high-impact scientific studies, driving innovation in lipid biology, metabolism, and disease management.
What is Lipid Research?
Lipids are essential biomolecules that include fats, oils, sterols, and fat-soluble vitamins. They are vital for energy storage, cell membrane integrity, and hormone production. Lipid research focuses on understanding their biological functions, metabolic pathways, and their roles in diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Why is Lipid Research Important?
The growing prevalence of metabolic diseases has made lipid research more important than ever. Scientists are exploring how different types of lipids—such as saturated fats, unsaturated fats, and trans fats—affect health. Understanding the mechanisms of lipid metabolism can help develop targeted therapies for chronic conditions like atherosclerosis, fatty liver disease, and Alzheimer’s.
Key Areas of Progress
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Lipidomics and Technology
Advancements in lipidomics—the large-scale study of lipid profiles—have revolutionized lipid research. Modern mass spectrometry and chromatography techniques allow researchers to analyze lipid compositions with high accuracy, enabling the discovery of lipid biomarkers for disease diagnosis and treatment. -
Lipid Signaling Pathways
Lipids are not just passive energy stores. Recent studies have uncovered their role in cell signaling. Molecules like sphingolipids and phosphoinositides are now recognized for regulating cell growth, inflammation, and apoptosis, making them potential targets for new drugs. -
Therapeutic Applications
Lipid research has led to the development of lipid-based drug delivery systems, such as liposomes and nanoparticles. These innovations enhance drug solubility, stability, and targeted delivery, especially in cancer and infectious disease treatments. -
Diet and Nutritional Research
The link between dietary lipids and health outcomes continues to be a focus. Researchers are investigating the impact of omega-3 fatty acids, cholesterol, and dietary patterns on heart health, cognitive function, and longevity. This area of research is vital for creating evidence-based nutritional guidelines. -
Lipid and Gut Microbiome Interaction
Emerging research shows how lipids interact with gut microbiota, influencing metabolic health and immune responses. This new frontier is helping scientists understand how diet, fats, and gut bacteria work together to impact overall health.
Journal Metrics
Metrics can change by reporting year. Verify time-sensitive values with the publisher or indexing service.
Aims & Scope
Lipid research is a rapidly evolving field that holds immense significance in both basic science and clinical medicine. Lipids, which include fats, oils, and hormones, are not just energy sources but key players in cell structure, signaling, and metabolism. The scope and progress in lipid research have expanded dramatically over the past few decades, unlocking new possibilities for understanding diseases and developing innovative treatments.
Expanding Scope of Lipid Research
The scope of lipid research spans multiple disciplines, including biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, nutrition, and medicine. It focuses on understanding the roles of lipids in cellular processes, their impact on health and disease, and their applications in drug development and diagnostics. Researchers investigate various types of lipids such as triglycerides, phospholipids, sphingolipids, and sterols, each playing unique roles in physiological functions.
Recent advancements in lipidomics — the large-scale study of pathways and networks of cellular lipids — have further broadened the scope. With the aid of high-throughput technologies like mass spectrometry and chromatography, scientists can now analyze lipid profiles with great precision, helping to identify biomarkers for conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Notable Progress in Lipid Research
One of the most significant breakthroughs in lipid research has been the identification of lipoproteins and their relationship with heart disease. The understanding of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) and HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol has revolutionized cardiovascular medicine. Therapies aimed at lowering LDL cholesterol, such as statins and PCSK9 inhibitors, have saved millions of lives worldwide.
Progress has also been made in understanding the role of lipids in inflammation and immune responses. Certain lipids act as signaling molecules that regulate inflammatory pathways. For example, prostaglandins and leukotrienes are lipid-derived mediators involved in inflammation, making them critical targets for anti-inflammatory drugs.
In the realm of cancer research, lipid metabolism is now recognized as a hallmark of tumor progression. Cancer cells often reprogram their lipid metabolism to support rapid growth and survival. Targeting lipid pathways offers new strategies for cancer therapy.
Moreover, lipid research is paving the way for innovations in nutritional science. Studies on omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids have shown their impact on brain health, cardiovascular health, and inflammation control, influencing dietary guidelines and supplement industries.
Future Directions
The future of lipid research is promising, driven by interdisciplinary collaboration and advanced analytical tools. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are increasingly being used to analyze complex lipidomic data, offering deeper insights into disease mechanisms. Personalized lipid profiling could soon become a routine part of precision medicine.
Recent Research Articles
Latest publications matched automatically by ISSN.
Oxysterols and bile acids - From intertwined biosynthesis to combined quantification
Martin Roumain, Giulio G. Muccioli
2026-12 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2026.101385Diet, microbiota, and lipidomics: How fatty acids shape the endocannabinoidome and host metabolism
Stefania Petrosino, Javiera Fontecilla-Escobar, Vincenzo Di Marzo, Fabio Arturo Iannotti et al.
2026-12 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2026.1013965,6-epoxycholestanols metabolism and functions: Defining the epoxycholestanoid (EChA) family
Julio Buñay, Silia Ayadi, Chloe Gressein, Morjane Boudani et al.
2026-12 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2026.101386Iron and lipid dysregulation as key determinants of ferroptosis in cardiometabolic disease
Sungji Cho, Hye Kyoung Sung, Jialing Tang, Scott A. Summers et al.
2026-12 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2026.101395Corrigendum to ‘Diacylglycerol kinases: Molecular mechanism of cellular and physiological functions’ [Progress in Lipid Research 101 (2026) 101373]
Tomohiro Kimura, Richard M. Epand
2026-08 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2026.101397Structure-guided dissection of the genetic variations within human LPA locus and its role in the development of cardiovascular diseases
Ivan Antipenko, Anna Stepanova, Maxim Shkurnikov, Kianoush Jeiran et al.
2026-06 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2025.101375Announcing executive editor team changes
Danielle Descoteaux, Andy Deelen
2026-06 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2026.101376The neurobiology of fatty acids: Metabolism, signaling, and roles in neurodegenerative diseases
Rocío Rojas, Alicia Pellitero, Betül Arslan, Alberto Pérez-Samartín et al.
2026-06 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2026.101378Stearoyl-CoA desaturase in development and disease
Sampurna Ghosh, Roman Caceres, Sunny Congrove, James M. Ntambi et al.
2026-06 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2025.101374Plasma membrane lipids at plant-pathogen interfaces: Regulators of immunity and susceptibility
Enzo A. Perk, Libo Shan, Teun Munnik, Ana M. Laxalt et al.
2026-06 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2026.101383Omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids in neurodevelopment and prematurity: Correcting imbalances and closing the Preterm PUFA Gap
Simon C. Dyall, J. Thomas Brenna, Susan E. Carlson, Michael A. Crawford et al.
2026-06 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2026.101379Nutrigenomics of fat-soluble vitamins and micronutrients in hepatocyte lipotoxicity and MASLD
Anna Migni, Desirée Bartolini, Maria Rachele Ceccarini, Chiara Galli et al.
2026-06 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2026.101380The plant lipid contactome: emerging roles of inter-organelle contact sites in lipid metabolism
Carolina Huercano, Miriam Moya-Barrientos, Oliver Cuevas, Carlos Cardenas et al.
2026-06 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2025.101372State-of-the-art on absorption mechanisms and factors affecting the bioavailability of preformed vitamin A
P. Borel, H.D. Le, M. Sabatier
2026-06 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2026.101382From kinetoplastids to cancer: A magical myristate tour
Kyle Lethcoe, Robert O. Ryan
2026-06 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2025.101362Properties and biochemistry of phosphatidylcholine: diacylglycerol cholinephosphotransferase
Brandon A. Ulch, Alyssa C. Clews, Caroline A. Reisiger, Li-Hua Zhu et al.
2026-06 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2025.101361Editorial Board
2026-06 · DOI: 10.1016/s0163-7827(26)00018-4Nature, functions and trafficking of membrane lipids to support autophagosome formation in plant cells
Thibault Kosuth, Hicham Dadi-Abjayou, Amélie Bernard
2026-06 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2026.101384Phospholipids in plant systems: metabolism, regulation and functional insights
Qiong Xiao, Stacy D. Singer, Yuki Nakamura, Guanqun Chen et al.
2026-06 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2026.101377Diacylglycerol kinases: Molecular mechanism of cellular and physiological functions
Tomohiro Kimura, Richard M. Epand
2026-06 · DOI: 10.1016/j.plipres.2025.101373Reviews
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April 21, 2025 at 9:40 am
April 21, 2025