Effects of starvation and plasma exchange on lecithin: Cholesterol acyltransferase activity and cholesterol efflux in cholesterol-fed pigs

The effects of starvation and of plasma exchange with a cholesterol-free substitute on efflux of tissue cholesterol and on lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) activity in plasma and peripheral lymph were investigated in two pigs fed a cholesterol diet for 3-4 months. The pigs were labelled with i.v. [14C]cholesterol before plasma exchange or starvation. The cholesterol diet increased plasma total cholesterol concentration and LCAT activity in plasma and lymph, but had little effect on the rate of esterification of cholesterol in plasma or lymph. During cholesterol feeding, and when the animals were fed a normal diet, cholesterol esterification rates in plasma and lymph were much lower than the maximum rates achieved when LCAT was saturated with substrate, suggesting that LCAT in normal pig plasma and lymph is not saturated with substrate. Plasma exchange, carried out when the specific activity of tissue cholesterol exceeded that of plasma cholesterol, was followed by a brief rise in the specific activity of plasma cholesterol to a maximum value between the specific activities of muscle and adipose-tissue cholesterol, reflecting the transfer of radioactive cholesterol from tissue to plasma. During the rise in plasma total cholesterol specific activity there were no differences between the specific activities of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in plasma or lymph. Starvation had no effect on the plasma-cholesterol specific-activity curve. From about day 14 after labelling, cholesterol-specific activity decreased in the order: tissues greater than lymph greater than plasma. This suggests that the transfer of cholesterol from tissues to plasma was mediated by lipoproteins in the interstitial fluid.