Influence of age on the lipoprotein profile of male Wistar rats.
This study shows that the age-dependent increase in plasma cholesterol levels of the rat is correlated with changes in the distribution of the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) fractions. In particular, it has been shown that when the that of older animals (up to 18 months of age) the level of HDL1 fraction displays a relevant increase which derives from a proportional decrease in the levels of both HDL2 and HDL3 fractions. No relevant change is observed in the distribution of very-low density and low-density lipoprotein fractions. The distribution of the major components present in each lipoprotein fraction isolated evidences that cholesteryl ester proportion has an age-related increase in all the fractions except the HDL2. Furthermore, also the total plasma concentration of lipoproteins shows an age-related increase. The results obtained in this study with male Wistar rats suggest that animals older than 10 months can be used as an experimental model for dietary and pharmacological studies on age-related cholesterol alterations.
Cantáfora
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A
Istituto Superiore di Sanitá, Department of Metabolism and Pathological Blochemistry, Viale Regina Elena, 299, I-00161 Rome, Italy.
Masella
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R
Pignatelli
E
E
Verna
R
R