title: Plasma clearance and biodistribution of oxidatively modified 99mTc-beta-VLDL in rabbits.
abstract: The biodistribution and removal from plasma (measured as fractional clearance rate, FCR, per hour) of native and oxidatively modified 99mtechnetium-labeled beta-very low density lipoprotein (99mTc-beta-VLDL) were investigated in hypercholesterolemic (HC) and control (C) three-month old New Zealand rabbits. The intracellular accumulation of beta-VLDL labeled with 99mTc was studied in vitro in THP-1 cells and monocyte-derived macrophages isolated from rabbits. After intravenous injection into C rabbits, copper-oxidized beta-VLDL (99mTc-ox-beta-VLDL) was cleared from the circulation faster (0.362 +/- 0.070/h) than native beta-VLDL (99mTc-nat-beta-VLDL, 0.241 +/- 0.070/h). In contrast, the FCR of 99mTc-ox-beta-VLDL in HC rabbits was lower (0.100 +/- 0.048/h) than that of 99mTc-nat-beta-VLDL (0.163 +/- 0.043/h). The hepatic uptake of radiolabeled lipoproteins was lower in HC rabbits (0.114 +/- 0.071% injected dose/g tissue for 99mTc-nat-beta-VLDL and 0.116 +/- 0.057% injected dose/g tissue for 99mTc-ox-beta-VLDL) than in C rabbits (0.301 +/- 0.113% injected dose/g tissue for 99mTc-nat-beta-VLDL and 0.305 +/- 0.149% injected dose/g tissue for 99mTc-ox-beta-VLDL). The uptake of 99mTc-nat-beta-VLDL and 99mTc-ox-beta-VLDL by atherosclerotic aorta lesions isolated from HC rabbits (99mTc-nat-beta-VLDL: 0.033 +/- 0.012% injected dose/g tissue and 99mTc-ox-beta-VLDL: 0.039 +/- 0.017% injected dose/g tissue) was higher in comparison to that of non-atherosclerotic aortas from C rabbits (99mTc-nat-beta-VLDL: 0.023 +/- 0.010% injected dose/g tissue and 99mTc-ox-beta-VLDL: 0.019 +/- 0.010% injected dose/g tissue). However, 99mTc-nat-beta-VLDL and 99mTc-ox-beta-VLDL were taken up by atherosclerotic lesions at similar rates. In vitro studies showed that both monocyte-derived macrophages isolated from rabbits and THP-1 macrophages significantly internalized more 99mTc-ox-beta-VLDL than 99mTc-nat-beta-VLDL. These results indicate that in cholesterol-fed rabbits 99mTc-ox-beta-VLDL is slowly cleared from plasma and accumulates in atherosclerotic lesions. However, although the extent of in vitro uptake of 99mTc-ox-beta-VLDL by macrophages was high, the in vivo accumulation of this radiolabeled lipoprotein by atherosclerotic lesions did not differ from that of 99mTc-nat-beta-VLDL.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil.
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Meneghetti
authors.forename: I J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Coelho
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Abdalla
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000378:metabolism; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008079:Lipoproteins, VLDL / Q000097:blood / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D008262:Macrophage Activation / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate; D011817:Rabbits; D013670:Sodium Pertechnetate Tc 99m / Q000097:blood / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D014018:Tissue Distribution / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D008079:Lipoproteins, VLDL; D013670:Sodium Pertechnetate Tc 99m