Determination of cholesterol using o-phthalaldehyde

A simple, rapid method for the determination of cholesterol in plasma and tissue using o-phthalaldehyde is presented. Comparison of this method with the FeCl(3) method gave identical results. However, the o-phthalaldehyde determination is three times more sensitive than the FeCl(3) determination (molar extinction coefficients of 11,610 and 33,440 for FeCl(3) and o-phthalaldehyde, respectively), it takes less time to complete, and the color developed is more stable. The o-phthalaldehyde method can be used to assay free and esterified cholesterol directly after thin-layer chromatographic separation.

The transport of exogenous cholesterol in the rabbit. I. Role of cholesterol ester of lymph chylomicra and lymph very low density lipoproteins in absorption

Thoracic lymph duct cannulations were performed shortly after a meal in rabbits trained to ingest a moderate fat, low cholesterol diet. A tracer dose of cholesterol-(3)H was administered to label exogenous (dietary) cholesterol during absorption. Sequential lymph samples were collected up to 24 hr postprandially, after which ultracentrifugal fractionation of lymph lipoproteins was carried out. The d < 1.006 lipoproteins were separated into two classes, chylomicra and very low density lipoproteins (VLDL).A comparison was made between chylomicra and VLDL of lymph in the transport of exogenous cholesterol after ingestion of a single meal. The per cent of exogenous cholesterol present in VLDL of sequential lymph collections progressively increased with time after a meal and by 18 hr had reached a value of 80% or greater. In chylomicra the per cent of exogenous cholesterol of sequential lymph collections progressively decreased. Therefore, exogenous cholesterol was preferentially transported in VLDL compared with chylomicra. Cholesterol ester specific activity (CESA) of lymph chylomicra and VLDL increased at a more rapid rate than free cholesterol specific activity (FCSA). CESA of VLDL was three times higher than FCSA at the maximum. Exogenous cholesterol which appeared in both chylomicra and VLDL was consistently 80% esterified. while the per cent of total cholesterol esterified decreased with time and was significantly lower than that for exogenous cholesterol from 6 to 24 hr postprandially. These results demonstrate preferential esterification of exogenous cholesterol during absorption and indicate that a mechanism exists within the intestinal mucosal cell to maintain both free and esterified exogenous cholesterol in a chemically distinct pool from endogenous cholesterol during incorporation into both chylomicra and VLDL.

Hyperlipoproteinemia in fasting ponies

Ponies fasted for up to 8 days showed, both by agarose electrophoresis and preparative ultracentrifugation, the appearance of a pre-beta-migrating, very low density lipoprotein fraction in plasma. This lipoprotein differs from the very low density lipoprotein found in humans and rats in that it contains a relatively smaller amount of total cholesterol, 85% of which is present in the unesterified form. By the 8th day of fasting, plasma triglyceride concentrations had increased from a prefasting level of 20 mg/dl to as high as 1000 mg/dl. The increase in plasma lipid concentrations as a result of fasting was highly variable. Accumulation of plasma cholesterol and triglyceride after injection of Triton WR 1339 was not related to the degree of fasting hyperlipidemia. This suggests that the hyperlipoproteinemia of fasting may result from an impaired utilization of very low density lipoproteins.

Abnormalities of lipid metabolism in the vitamin E-deficient monkey

A soybean protein diet was used to induce vitamin E deficiency in rhesus monkeys. The deficient monkeys had reduced triglyceride concentrations in liver and skeletal muscle, but the cholesterol concentration in their skeletal muscle was increased. A constant amount of radioactively labeled (3)H-cholesterol-7alpha-(3)H was fed daily for 48-114 days to control and vitamin E-deficient monkeys to study the relationship between plasma, liver, and skeletal muscle cholesterol. Plasma cholesterol reached constant, maximum specific activity by the 42nd day both in control and in vitamin E-deficient monkeys. In control and previously deficient vitamin E-treated monkeys the specific activity of cholesterol in liver and skeletal muscle was approximately equal to that of plasma. In vitamin E-deficient monkeys the liver cholesterol specific activity was equal to that of plasma cholesterol, but the ratio of skeletal muscle cholesterol specific activity to plasma cholesterol specific activity was reduced. It is concluded from these studies that there is a specific defect(s) in cholesterol metabolism in the skeletal muscle of vitamin E-deficient monkeys.