Plasma Lecithin-Cholesterol Acyltransferase Activity in Hyperlipidemia

• Published in: Nihon Rōnen Igakkai zasshi Vol. 9; no. 5; pp. 279 - 284
• Main Authors: Fujii, Yasuhisa, Shimizu, Yoshito, Kamoi, Masaki, Kawauchi, Mitsuo, Kikuchi, Takehisa, Mizukawa, Shiro, Sezaki, Tatsuo, Kibata, Masayoshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: The Japan Geriatrics Society 1972
• ISSN: 0300-9173
• DOI: 10.3143/geriatrics.9.279

Recent evidences indicate that the plasma enzyme lecithincholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) can convert circulating free cholesterol to esterified cholesterol. The present study was performed to evaluate the significance of the plasma LCAT activity in hyperlipidemic patients with arteriosclerosis (cholesterol 258±55mg/dl, triglyceride 192±81mg/dl) and lanolin-induced hyperlipidemic rabbits (cholesterol 1045±346mg/dl). Plasma LCAT activity was assayed by measurement of the ability of plasma to esterify 14C-labelled free cholesterol. This activity (μg of cholesterol esterified per ml plasma per hour) was 19.0±3.1μg in control subjects, 15.8±3.3μg in normolipidemic subjects with arteriosclerosis (cholesterol 185±16mg/dl, triglyceride 121±22mg/dl) and 18.8±3.6μg in hyperlipidemic subjects with arteriosclerosis. In arteriosclerotic subjects with and without hyperlipidemia, the LCAT activity was significantly correlated with the plasma concentration of triglyceride (r=0.8447, p<0.001), the percentage of pre β lipoprotein (r=0.7908, p<0.01) and obesity index (r=0.6101, p<0.05). Plasma LCAT activity in lanolin-induced hyperlipidemic rabbits was higher than in normolipidemic rabbits. These findings suggest that the plasma LCAT may play a important role on lipid transport in response to plasma lipid concentration.