REGULATION OF VLDL SYNTHESIS AND SECRETION IN THE LIVER

The production of very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) by the liver re sults from very complex processes that involve coordinated mechanisms of both protein and lipid synthesis and packaging. Alterations in thes e metabolic functions can cause negative effects on the health of huma n subjects or animals. The objectives of this paper were to review the latest developments in the biological mechanisms of these processes a nd the role of nutritional and hormonal factors. The present study add resses the following issues: i) the main steps in the hepatic metaboli sm of lipids (long-chain fatty acids, triacylglycerols, phospholipids) and proteins (apolipoprotein B, microsomal transfer protein) primaril y involved in the synthesis and secretion of VLDL particles; ii) the m etabolic deviations of hepatic VLDL (hypo- and overproduction) in man, rodents and farm animals (poultry, dairy cows).