Effect of Ingested Vanadium on Cholesterol and Phospholipid Metabolism in the Rabbit.

Abstract

Summary Vanadium, in the form of vanadium pentoxide, added to a standard diet, at a level of 100 ppm of the element lowered free cholesterol ancl phospholipid content of the liver of rabbits, while plasma cholesterol showed no significant changes. 2. Elevation of free and total cholesterol levels of plasma was restricted significantly by the addition of 50 ppm vanadium to a 1% cholesterol diet. Phospholipid levels also were maintained at lower leveli, on the average, although not uniformly. 3. When rabbits were fed cholesterol to raise the plasma levels of cholesterol and phospholipid, and then the cholesterol was omitted from the diet, it was found that the presence ol vanadium in the diet produced a faster rate of return to normal than occurred when no vanadiulm was furnished. 4. The mechanism by which vanadium restricts elevation of plasma cholesterol appears to involve both inhibition of cholesterol synthesis and accelerated cntaholism of cholesterol. The latter may occur through a catalytic process. The substantial contributions of Dr. Herbert Lansky, pathologist, Robert G. Keenan, spectrochcmist, Wm. D. Wagner, tosicologist, Tetiuo Shimamoto, statistician and Laryl Lee Delker, physical science aide, to this work arc gratefully acknowledged. We wish to express our appreciation to Drs. Joseph H. Bragdon of the National Institutes of Health, and George L. Curran of the University oi Kansas Medical Center for their comments and helpful suggestions.