Cholesterol metabolism in inherently scorbutic rats (ODS rats).
We observed the cholesterol metabolism of a colony of Wistar rats with a hereditary defect in vitamin C synthesizing ability (the ODS (osteogenic disorder-Shionogi) rats) in six kinds of experiments. Female ODS rats aged 36 days had a low HDL (high-density lipoprotein)-cholesterol level in serum as compared with age-matched control rats in spite of the absence of scorbutic symptoms. Female ODS rats aged 63 days which revealed severe scorbutic symptoms had a very low HDL-cholesterol level (mean value; 17 mg/dl). And male ODS rats, whose lives had been prolonged by supplementing with L-ascorbic acid, also had lower serum HDL-cholesterol and had increased total cholesterol in serum and liver when the acid supplement dose was relatively insufficient. On the other hand, we examined HDL2- and HDL3-cholesterol levels in serum to determine the mechanism of low HDL-cholesterol. As a result, we observed a low HDL2-cholesterol level in ODS rats but normal HDL3-cholesterol level. But the authors observed no decrease of LCAT (lecithin: cholesterol acyltransferase) activity in serum of ODS rats. These results could be due to disturbance of lipid metabolism in a vitamin C-deficient condition, that is to say, there might be abnormalities of the cholesterol excretion pathway of bile acid from liver, and maturity of the HDL-cholesterol particle due to other factors except that of LCAT activity.
Kono
K
K
Department of Geriatrics, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Japan.
Hayakawa
M
M
Asai
K
K
Kuzuya
F
F
D000818:Animals; D001206:Ascorbic Acid Deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011922:Rats, Mutant Strains; D012307:Risk Factors; D012614:Scurvy / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL; D002784:Cholesterol