PHOSPHOLIPID AND CHOLESTERYL ESTER TRANSFER ACTIVITIES IN PLASMA FROM14 VERTEBRATE SPECIES - RELATION TO ATHEROGENESIS SUSCEPTIBILITY

Cholesteryl ester and phospholipid transfer activities were determined in plasmas from 14 vertebrates, and lipid transfer values were analyz ed in the light of the known atherogenesis susceptibility of studied s pecies. Whereas cholesteryl eater transfer protein (CETP) and phosphol ipid transfer protein (PLTP) activities among vertebrate species were only measured in lipoprotein-deficient fractions in previous studies, both endogenous lipoprotein-dependent and endogenous lipoprotein-indep endent assays were used in the present work. In agreement with previou s studies, a few species (chicken, man, rabbit and trout) displayed su bstantial CETP activity, whereas CETP activity was not detectable in o ther species (cow, dog, horse, mouse, pig, and rat). Additional specie s that were not studied before, i.e. cat, goat, and sheep, were shown to be deficient in plasma cholesteryl ester transfer activity, while d uck was shown to constitute a new member of the high activity group. U nlike CETP activity, PLTP activity was detected in plasmas from all st udied species, most of them being assayed here for the first time (cat , chicken, cow, duck, goat, horse, sheep, and trout). While dog, trout , mouse, and pig displayed the highest phospholipid transfer activity levels, the remarkable preservation of facilitated phospholipid transf ers in plasma from all vertebrates might indicate an essential role of PLTP in vivo. Interestingly, animals with well-documented atherogenes is susceptibility (chicken, pig, rabbit, and man) displayed significan tly higher mean CETP activity, but lower mean PLTP activity than known 'resistant' animals (cat, dog, mouse, and rat). In conclusion, the pr esent study revealed marked differences in plasma lipid transfer activ ities between vertebrate species, and interspecies comparisons indicat ed that both CETP and PLTP may constitute two determinants of the athe rogenicity of the plasma lipoprotein profile. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scienc e Inc. All rights reserved.