J. Osada et al., DIFFERENTIAL EFFECT OF DIETARY-FAT SATURATION AND CHOLESTEROL ON HEPATIC APOLIPOPROTEIN GENE-EXPRESSION IN RATS, Atherosclerosis, 108(1), 1994, pp. 83-90
The effects of dietary cholesterol and fat saturation on hepatic apoli
poprotein A-I, A-II, A-IV, B, C-I, C-III, E and LDL receptor mRNA leve
ls were studied in male rats. Animals were maintained for 2 months on
a high fat diet (40%, w/w) containing 0.1% cholesterol. Two groups of
control animals received either chow diet or chow plus 0.1%, cholester
ol, while experimental groups received as their fat supplement coconut
, corn or olive oil. Olive oil fed animals had higher levels of hepati
c apo A-I than the control cholesterol group (1.6 +/- 0.3 vs. 0.8 +/-
0.2). Apo E mRNA levels were 50% and 72% higher in animals consuming t
he saturated (coconut) and unsaturated (corn and olive) fat diet than
the control cholesterol group. Apo B and apo C-I mRNA levels were not
affected by the experimental conditions. Apo A-IV mRNA increased betwe
en 66% and 127% in groups in which cholesterol was present. LDL recept
or mRNA increased 2 times in the corn fed group compared with the cont
rol groups. These results indicate that the expression of genes coding
for products involved in lipoprotein metabolism have a differential s
usceptibility to dietary fat saturation and cholesterol.