Cholesteryl Ester Fatty Acid Patterns of Plasma, Atheromata and Livers of Cholesterol-fed Rabbits

Abstract

The cholesteryl esterified fatty acids (CEFA) of plasma, liver and aortic lesions of cholesterol-fed rabbits were analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography. The patterns of these acids were characterized chiefly by a high percentage of oleic acid, especially in the aortic intima and in the liver, where the oleic-linoleic acid ratio was increased up to 3.1 and 4.7, respectively, against 2.1 in the plasma and 0.9 in the plasma of normal rabbits. In each instance the sum of the relative concentrations of oleic and linoleic acids represented approximately 75% of the total CEFA. The dissimilarity between the CEFA patterns of plasma and atheromata excludes the likelihood that the cholesteryl esters accumulate in the aortic intima by a simple random deposition of the plasma cholesteryl esters. The CEFA patterns of rabbit atheromata closely resemble those reported by other authors in human early atheromatous lesions.