Lipid breakdown products include unesterified free fatty acids, acyl carnitine, and lysophospholipids, catabolic products that are known to accumulate in injured cells as a result of phospholipid degradation.

They have a detergent effect on membranes. They also either insert into the lipid bilayer of the membrane or exchange with membrane phospholipids, potentially causing changes in permeability and electrophysiologic alterations.

See also

 Lipids
 cell injury