Loss of cholesterol from muscle and skin of monkeys treated with nicotinic acid.
In Rhesus monkeys, nicotinic acid given daily by subcutaneous injection for 5 weeks brought about a reversible decrease in total cholesterol concentration in skeletal muscle and skin to about half the normal value. The decrease in cholesterol concentration was due to a net loss of cholesterol from muscle, since the treatment had no effect on the water content or on the percentage of DNA or protein in fresh tissue. In muscle, free cholesterol was lost in preference to esterified cholesteol, but in skin both cholesterol fraction were affected to about the same extent. Analysis of the cholesterol content of subcellular fractions of homogenates of muscle showed that loss of cholesterol occurred mainly from the soluble fraction and the 800-g sediment, with no significant loss from the mitochondrial or microsomal fractions.
D000818:Animals; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000032:analysis; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008931:Mitochondria, Muscle / Q000032:analysis; D009132:Muscles / Q000032:analysis / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D009539:Nicotinic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D012867:Skin / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D009539:Nicotinic Acids; D011506:Proteins; D002784:Cholesterol