LipidFun: a database of lipid functions

The Lipid section offers detailed information on the phenotypes and biological functions related to the user-selected lipid. It consists of three subsections: lipid, lipid-phenotypes association, and lipid-biological functions association.

  1. Lipid: This section provides essential details about the selected lipid, including its basic information, external ID, Lipidmaps classification, string Representations, and the top five associated phenotypes and biological functions. It also includes up-stream and down-stream network graphs to understand this lipid better.
  2. Lipid-phenotypes association: In this section, you can explore the connections between the user-selected lipid and its associated phenotypes. The results included a summary table, evidence table, phenotype network, inferred tree view, and word cloud.
  3. Lipid-biological functions association: In this section, you can explore the connections between the user-selected lipid and its associated biological functions. The results included a summary table, evidence table, biological function network, inferred tree view, and word cloud.
Enter the lipid name in the selection box to search for your desired lipid. If you are unsure how to use our website, check out the example below the selection box or refer to the tutorial for guidance.


We support lipid search by common name, alias, abbreviation, LIPID MAPS ID, and MeSH ID.

Example : SM, LMFA01030185, D015525



The graph displays the upstream of the lipid. You can manipulate the graph by clicking on the toolbar at the bottom right and left.

  • Click on the above tab to switch between the upstream and downstream graphs.
  • You can zoom in or out of the network by scrolling the mouse wheel and can move it by clicking and dragging it.




This graph visualizes the downstream of the lipid. The size of each node corresponds to the number of associated downstream lipid species. Nodes with a bold frame indicate the presence of downstream lipids, and you can click on them to expand their downstream lipids.

  • If there are no downstream lipids, the graph will not display.
  • Click on the above tab to switch between the upstream and downstream graphs.
  • Click on the bold frame nodes to expand or collapse their associated downstream lipids.




This table displays phenotypes associated with the selected lipid, providing their names and the number of related lipids. Additional details include the count of literature references mentioning a specific lipid-phenotype association and the earliest and latest literature mentioning this association.

  • Click on a count in the "Literature" column to view sentences containing the target lipid and phenotypes in literature references.




The evidence table provides the sentences extracted from literature references mentioning the target lipid and a specific phenotype. The table includes additional information such as each reference's PMID (PubMed ID), the count of literature references mentioning the lipid-phenotype association, and whether the associations are under expert curation.

  • Click on a specific PMID to directly access its full article in PubMed.
  • In each sentence, phenotypes, lipids, and verbs are highlighted for clarity as Phenotype, Lipid, and Verb.
    Please note that if a word is supposed to be highlighted by more than two colors, it will be displayed in grey.





The network visualizes phenotypes associated with the target lipid. Node sizes and colors represent the literature records documenting the lipid-phenotype association. Nodes without literature are marked white, while nodes with more literature records are red. You can manipulate the network by clicking on the toolbar at the bottom right and left.

  • Zoom in or out of the network by scrolling the mouse wheel and can move it by clicking and dragging it.
  • Hover over a specific node to view the count of literature that mention this phenotype and target lipid.
  • Double click on a colored node to access the evidence table listing all the relevant sentences extracted from the literature.




The inferred tree visualizes phenotypes associated with the target lipid based on disease categories in MeSH (Medical Subject Headings). This tree displays the phenotypes into hierarchical relationships within different disease categories. Node sizes indicate the total counts of downstream nodes' literature references. Each node's color is based on the literature count of the node itself. Nodes without literature are marked in white, while nodes with more literature records are near red. Nodes with a bold frame indicate the presence of downstream nodes, and you can click on them to expand their downstream nodes.

  • Click on the bold frame nodes to expand or collapse their associated downstream lipids.
  • Hover over a specific node to view the node literature count and downstream literature count.
  • Click on a colored node to access the evidence table listing all the relevant sentences extracted from the literature.




The word cloud presents phenotypes associated with the target lipid. Phenotype names displayed in larger sizes represent more literature documenting this lipid-phenotype association.

  • Hover over a specific phenotype name to view the count of literature that mention this phenotype and target lipid.
  • Click on a specific phenotype name to access the evidence table listing all the relevant sentences extracted from the literature.




This table displays biological functions associated with the selected lipid, providing their names and the number of related lipids. Additional details include the count of literature references mentioning a specific lipid-biological function association and the earliest and latest literature mentioning this association.

  • Click on a count in the "Literature" column to view sentences from literature containing the target lipid and the biological function.




The evidence table provides the sentences extracted from literature references mentioning the target lipid and a specific biological function. The table includes additional information such as each reference's PMID (PubMed ID), the count of literature references mentioning the lipid-biological function association, and whether the associations are under expert curation.

  • Click on a specific PMID to directly access its full article in PubMed.
  • In each sentence, biological functions, lipids, and verbs are highlighted for clarity as Biological function, Lipid, and Verb.
    Please note that if a word is supposed to be highlighted by more than two colors, it will be displayed in grey.





The network visualizes biological functions associated with the target lipid. Node sizes and colors represent the literature records documenting the lipid-biological function association. Nodes without literature are marked white, while nodes with more literature records are red. You can manipulate the network by clicking on the toolbar at the bottom right and left.

  • Zoom in or out of the network by scrolling the mouse wheel and can move it by clicking and dragging it.
  • Hover over a specific node to view the count of literature that mention this biological function and target lipid.
  • Double click on a colored node to access the evidence table listing all the relevant sentences extracted from the literature.




The inferred tree visualizes lipids associated with the target biological function based on Lipidmaps and lipid classification structure in MeSH (Medical Subject Headings). Node sizes indicate the total counts of downstream nodes' literature references. Each node's color is based on the literature count of the node itself. Nodes without literature are marked in white, while nodes with more literature records are near red. Nodes with a bold frame indicate the presence of downstream nodes, and you can click on them to expand their downstream nodes.

  • Click on the bold frame nodes to expand or collapse their associated downstream lipids.
  • Hover over a specific node to view the node literature count and downstream literature count.
  • Click on a colored node to access the evidence table listing all the relevant sentences extracted from the literature.




The word cloud presents lipids associated with the target biological function. Lipid names displayed in larger sizes represent more literature documenting this biological function-lipid association.

  • Hover over a specific lipid name to view the count of literature that mention this lipid and target biological function.
  • Click on a specific lipid name to access the evidence table listing all the relevant sentences extracted from the literature.