title: Effect of catecholamines on the hepatic rate-limiting enzymes of cholesterol metabolism in normally fed and cholesterol-fed rabbits.
abstract: Adrenergic control of liver cholesterol metabolism was studied in the rabbit. The effects of noradrenaline (alpha 1, alpha 2, beta 2 agonist) and isoprenaline (beta 1, beta 2 agonist) on 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, acyl-coenzyme A: cholesterol-o-acyltransferase (cholesterol acyltransferase) and cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzymes of cholesterol biosynthesis and esterification and bile acid synthesis, respectively, were examined in the normally fed and cholesterol-fed male New Zealand White rabbit. Isoprenaline increased the activities of hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA reductase and cholesterol acyltransferase approx. 12-fold and 5-fold, respectively, in normally fed rabbits. Noradrenaline, by contrast, produced an effect only on hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA reductase, the activity of which was increased 3-fold in these animals. Neither catecholamine had an effect on hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA reductase in the cholesterol-fed rabbit. Isoprenaline decreased the activity of cholesterol acyltransferase by approx. 40% and increased the activity of cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase 2-fold in the cholesterol-fed rabbit compared to cholesterol-fed controls. Noradrenaline had no effect on either cholesterol acyltransferase or cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase in either the normally fed or the cholesterol-fed rabbit. We suggest that beta 2-adrenergic stimulation by isoprenaline in the normally fed rabbit may enhance cholesterol synthesis and storage, but that in the cholesterol-fed rabbit, it facilitates the elimination of cholesterol from the body by increasing the rate of bile acid synthesis.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism*; D002790:Cholesterol 7-alpha-Hydroxylase / Q000378:metabolism*; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary / Q000378:metabolism; D006903:Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases / Q000378:metabolism*; D007545:Isoproterenol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007700:Kinetics; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology*; D008862:Microsomes, Liver / Q000201:enzymology; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011817:Rabbits; D013250:Steroid Hydroxylases / Q000378:metabolism*; D002785:Sterol O-Acyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D002784:Cholesterol; D006903:Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases; D013250:Steroid Hydroxylases; D002790:Cholesterol 7-alpha-Hydroxylase; D002785:Sterol O-Acyltransferase; D007545:Isoproterenol; D009638:Norepinephrine