Development and partial metabolic characterization of a dietary cholesterol-resistant colony of rabbits

Journal Article · Tue Jan 31 23:00:00 EST 1989 · Journal of Lipid Research; (USA)

OSTI ID:5640944

Overturf, M L; Smith, S A; Hewett-Emmett, D; Loose-Mitchell, D S; Soma, M R; Gotto, Jr, A M; Morrisett, J D ^[1]

---

1. Univ. of Texas Medical School, Houston (USA)

A colony of New Zealand white rabbits has been developed which, when fed a cholesterol-supplemented diet, exhibit unusual resistance to hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis, disorders usually observed in normal cholesterol-fed rabbits. When resistant rabbits (RT) were fed a normal low cholesterol diet (ND), their plasma lipoprotein patterns were significantly different from those of normal rabbits (NR) fed the same diet. The low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c)/high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) ratio and LDL-c/very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-c) ratio were lower in the resistant rabbits. The hydrated density of HDL of the normal-responsive rabbits was greater than that of the resistant rabbits. LDL from resistant rabbits contained a lower proportion of esterified cholesterol and protein than LDL from normal rabbits. Peripheral mononuclear cells from resistant rabbits bound about 30% more {sup 125}I-labeled rabbit LDL than mononuclear cells from normal rabbits. These results demonstrate that the plasma cholesterol levels of these animals is at least partly under genetic control and that compositional differences exist between the major plasma lipoprotein classes of normal and resistant rabbits even during the ingestion of low-cholesterol diet. The results indicate that at least a part of the difference in the cholesterolemic responses between the two rabbit groups is due to an enhanced LDL uptake by the mononuclear cells, and presumably by other somatic cells of the resistant group.

• OSTI ID: 5640944
• Journal Information: Journal of Lipid Research; (USA), Journal Name: Journal of Lipid Research; (USA) Vol. 30:2; ISSN JLPRA; ISSN 0022-2275
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550501* -- Metabolism-- Tracer Techniques
550901 -- Pathology-- Tracer Techniques
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ANIMALS
ARTERIOSCLEROSIS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BIOLOGICAL MARKERS
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BIOSYNTHESIS
BLOOD
BLOOD CELLS
BODY FLUIDS
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES
CENTRIFUGATION
CHOLESTEROL
COUNTING TECHNIQUES
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DISEASE RESISTANCE
DISEASES
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ELECTROPHORESIS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
IODINE 125
IODINE ISOTOPES
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
ISOTOPES
LEUKOCYTES
LIPIDS
LIPOPROTEINS
MAMMALS
MATERIALS
METABOLISM
MONOCYTES
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PHENOTYPE
PROTEINS
RABBITS
RADIOISOTOPES
SCINTILLATION COUNTING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
STEROIDS
STEROLS
SYNTHESIS
TRACER TECHNIQUES
ULTRACENTRIFUGATION
VASCULAR DISEASES
VERTEBRATES