The influence of cholesterol on the incorporation of [I-14C]acetate into phosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl ethanolamine of rat-liver mitochondria

Influence of dietary cholesterol on the relative synthesis of hepatic glycerides and molecular classes of 1,2-diglycerides and phospholipids in the gerbil in vivo

The influence of dietary cholesterol on the relative rates of synthesis of hepatic lipids in the male Mongolian gerbil, Meriones unguiculatus, was studied. The semi-purified starch-based diet used lard as the dietary fat and was fed with or without a 0.5% (by wt.) cholesterol supplement. Each animal received 300 microCi [2-3H]-glycerol i.p. after 3 or 7 days on the dietary regimens. Relative rates of [2-3H]-glycerol incorporation into the major hepatic glycerides in vivo was not affected significantly by dietary cholesterol (0.5% level), suggesting that alteration in the relative biosynthesis of these lipids could not readily account for the higher triglyceride (TG) to phospholipid (PL) mass ratio in liver with cholesterol feeding. However, there was evidence for an increased formation of 1,2-diglyceride (1,2-DG). The complement of molecular species of hepatic 1,2-DG, phosphatidylcholine (PC), and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) formed de novo, as measured using isotopic glycerol, was not influenced greatly by dietary cholesterol, although lower mean rates of synthesis of tetraenoic relative to dienoic species of phospholipids were indicated in cholesterol-fed gerbils.

In vitro incorporation of acetate-1-14C into the phospholipids of rabbit and human endometria

Endometria from nonpregnant and 6-day pregnant rabbits and from humans in the proliferative and secretory phases were incubated with 1-(14)C-acetate.(14)CO(2) was collected, and subsequently the amounts, specific radioactivities, and in some cases the fatty acid compositions of the isolated phospholipids were determined. Phosphatidyl choline was the phospholipid present in highest amount in endometria from both nonpregnant and pregnant rabbits, and in human endometria; this phospholipid also showed the highest degree of incorporation of(14)C-acetate. Pregnancy in the rabbit seemed to decrease the incorporation of(14)C-acetate into most of the endometrial phospholipid classes. In humans, the incorporation of acetate into phosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl ethanolamine was lower in the secretory than the proliferative endometria.Of the fatty acids, linoleic acid in phosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl ethanolamine of the rabbit endometria showed a significant relative increase during pregnancy and palmitoleic acid showed a decrease.