Further characterization of the changes occurring in the plasma lipoprotein spectrum in the European badger (Meles meles L.) during winter.
The plasma lipoprotein pattern in the European badger has been shown previously to undergo marked and complex quantitative and qualitative seasonal modifications (Laplaud, P.M. et al., 1980, J. Lipid Res., 21, 724-738). However, the conventional ultracentrifugal techniques then in use in our laboratory were of insufficient discriminating power with regard to the numerous lipoprotein fractions whose presence was suggested by our analyses. In the present study, a new density gradient ultracentrifugation procedure was applied to the more detailed determination of the distribution of plasma lipoproteins. The first series of analyses was performed in early December and the second in March, i.e. at the dates when the maximum and minimum, respectively, of lipidemia occur in this species. The fractions thus obtained, each of which corresponded to a narrow density interval, were analyzed subsequently for chemical composition, appearance upon polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and for their content of tetramethylurea-soluble apolipoproteins in alkaline-urea gels. Changes occurring from December to March included a large decrease in the plasma concentration of the 1.015-1.065 g/ml lipoproteins, chemical analysis of this material being compatible with the presence of at least two lipoprotein populations. On the other hand, high-density lipoproteins (1.065-1.162 g/ml) appeared less variable in chemical composition, although the proportion of those with lower density decreased considerably in early spring. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the native fractions showed multiple bands in most of them; the tetramethylurea-soluble apoprotein profile remained similar at the two dates considered with an apolipoprotein A-I-like component present in large amounts throughout the entire low- and high-density ranges.
D000818:Animals; D001053:Apolipoproteins / Q000097:blood; D002335:Carnivora / Q000097:blood*; D002499:Centrifugation, Density Gradient; D004586:Electrophoresis; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000097:blood*; D012621:Seasons
D001053:Apolipoproteins; D008055:Lipids; D008074:Lipoproteins